A recent study reveals that more than half of corporate or business travellers consider Artificial Intelligence (AI) as key to safer and productive trips. Interestingly, the survey carried out by SAP Concur with 527 travellers as participants shows that adoption of AI technology like predictive risk alerts in the case of natural disasters would reduce the amount of risk during travel. Besides, 75% mentioned that they consider AI as the ‘engine room’ for personalised travel experiences.
Some of the advantages, as highlighted by the respondents, are automated recommended actions depending upon events including cancelled flights, personalised recommendations related to hotels and restaurants, and personalised automated travel spends. Three major AI technologies identified by the respondents include language–capable robots, chat bots and voice assistants.
In spite of an overwhelming majority of travellers understanding the inherent benefits of AI when it comes to improving business trips, few others weren’t willing to share data citing technology to perform to its full potential. The study also indicated that business travellers felt comfortable sharing their travel preference, gender and their email. Respondents, at the same time, weren’t as willing to share their biometrics, location of residence and phone numbers.
Technology evangelists predict the future of AI to be promising in the area of business travel, which ranges from travel preference to safety. However, the results of the study show that trust factor can come in between the user and the realistic adoption of UI.
AI systems require lot more data to adjust and learn. Lack of data, due to user’s unwillingness to share data, hinders the possibility of system improvement. Users who’re more than happy to share their profile on social platforms online everyday shy away from biometric data sharing.
Companies that are into developing AI systems need to put protection, governance and data privacy layers at the heart of their offerings. Unless they don’t infuse a sense of trust to win the confidence of their customers, the scope of AI systems to act on user expectations will be a pipe dream. The study also goes on to indicate that 92% of respondents have had already played hands on with one form of AI or the other, which shows just how penetrative the technology is in day–to–day–lives. The challenge, therein, lies how best AI can be deployed to deliver positive results to business travellers.