Rick Steves' Protégé Has One Word To Describe A Vacation Planned Using Artificial Intelligence

Travel writer and Rick Steves' protégé Cameron Hewitt acknowledges that online AI tools can help take the stress out of planning a trip. But he also thinks they're not ready to replace human travel writers just yet. In his article, "Artificial Intelligence (AI) vs. the Human Travel Writer: A Showdown," on Steves' popular travel blog, Hewitt uses the word "hollow" to describe a vacation based solely on AI-generated recommendations. "If all you had access to was the AI-generated material, I could see where you might find it superficially impressive and be tempted to plan your trip around it," Hewitt writes. "But I still suspect that, upon returning from that trip, the person who over-relied on AI, versus the one who spent $25 on a guidebook, would have a less enjoyable experience overall. I imagine that trip might feel ... hollow. Something would be missing."

While AI-generated itineraries contain facts such as opening times and directions that can be somewhat helpful, these lists are dull and devoid of imagination. In the article, Hewitt compares his own account of Hillsborough Castle in Ireland with one generated by ChatGPT-4, acknowledging that the latter was surprisingly "competent and clear." However, the computer's writing lacked emotion and wasn't informed by personal experience. It was missing a human voice, which is what we expect when seeking advice about travel — or any other important human experience. As an example, both the computer and Hewitt discuss some of the items on display, such as portraits, furniture, and memorabilia of the castle's previous occupants. But Hewitt's detail that "the castle tour is led by a docent who speaks lovingly of the royal family, as if he knows them personally (he probably does)," contributes warmth and nuance.

Other problems with the AI-generated information on Hillsborough Castle, noted Hewitt in the article, were numerous omissions and inaccuracies. For one, the AI version repeatedly referred to Queen Elizabeth in the present tense, even though she passed away in 2022. "You'll see the Throne Room where the Queen receives guests, the Drawing Room where she hosts receptions, the Dining Room where she entertains dignitaries, and the State Bedroom where she sleeps," the AI passage reads. A glaring mistake like this one screams "machine author" — or a human author residing under a very large rock. 

The computer also made mistakes that were less embarrassing but that could nonetheless throw a wrench into someone's travel planning. For example, it provided an accurate admission price for the combined castle and garden tour but, as Hewitt put it, "it appears to have hallucinated the price" for the garden-only tour. Moreover, it didn't mention that the castle is mostly closed during the off-season — a critical detail for anyone planning a tour of the Royal Family estate. This example illustrates the danger of relying too heavily on AI for tourism information. For now at least, fact checking AI-generated travel content is still necessary if you want to be spared the inconvenience of arriving at a long-awaited destination only to find out that the next tour doesn't start for ... another three months. For an in-depth case study on this subject, check out our article on one writer's experience of using AI for her own trip planning.