Incorporating several new artificial intelligence tools, some companies are now utilizing large language models to revolutionize their platforms for customers.
Priceline recently expanded the functionalities of Penny, an AI travel assistant launched in June. Initially concentrated on accommodations, Penny can now help in finding flights, car rentals, and vacation packages. With the power of OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Google’s Vertex AI, enhancements to the online travel agency’s “trip intelligence suite” empower Penny to recognize destinations, craft itineraries, and make adjustments directly through the chatbot interface.
Lesley Klein, Priceline’s svp of strategy and brand marketing, discussed the company’s exploration of integrating generative AI across various business sectors, including paid and organic search, messaging formats, and creative assets.
“We were early adopters of generative AI and fully embraced its potential,” Klein affirmed. “It is clear that this technology will transform all aspects of business and life, and we wanted to embrace it wholeheartedly.”
Penny is well-versed in a wide array of data sources, encompassing high-quality content, first-party data, search data, and on-site behavior. Moreover, it is linked to multiple APIs to handle queries beyond Priceline’s domain. Additionally, Penny could potentially contribute to other facets of Priceline’s marketing endeavors, potentially unveiling previously unknown psychographic and behavioral data.
Rather than starting with the initial phases of trip planning, Priceline adopted a unique approach by beginning at the end, as elucidated by Kevin Heery, Priceline’s chief product officer. By posing additional questions to customers during checkout, such as pet policies or dietary requirements, Priceline aimed to address genuine concerns. This strategy not only unveiled valuable insights but also did not result in a decrease in conversions as initially feared.
Heery stressed, “This approach guided us through the funnel, from checkout to the homepage, uncovering new opportunities for engagement and service enhancement.”
Both established enterprises and startups are introducing innovative solutions to aid consumers, businesses, and employees. For instance, Sierra, a startup co-founded by former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, pledges to streamline various actions through AI agents. Another startup, XGenAI, concentrates on developing novel generative AI features for the retail and e-commerce sectors. Despite progress, some companies have encountered challenges concerning AI bots, exemplified by Air Canada’s recent instance of issuing a refund due to inaccurate information provided by a chatbot in a customer interaction.
Generative AI is gaining momentum in e-commerce, with a report from Junglescout indicating that 50% of Amazon businesses employ AI for managing e-commerce channels. Furthermore, AI is utilized by 34% of businesses for composing and optimizing listings, 14% for generating marketing content, and 7% for aiding in keyword and SEO research.
Additional AI Updates and Releases:
- OpenAI rolled out significant updates, such as enabling ChatGPT to retain conversations and offering a sneak peek at a new text-to-video model named Sora for creating realistic videos.
- Hugging Face, an open-source platform, incorporated detection tools to mitigate AI risks.
- Cohere AI, a research nonprofit, unveiled a large language model supporting 101 languages, with the aim of promoting global AI adoption.
- The Federal Trade Commission introduced new regulations to safeguard individuals from harm caused by AI impersonations and cautioned against companies misusing personal data to train AI models.
- Salesforce announced new generative AI features for Slack to aid users in summarizing conversations.
- Alembic, an AI startup specializing in marketing analytics, secured $14 million in funding from investors, including a venture capital firm co-founded by Dreamworks’ Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Additional Highlights from Digiday:
- Tech companies are intensifying efforts to combat harmful AI content related to global elections.
- Qualcomm unveiled a new sonic logo, “Snap Beat,” for Snapdragon, its mobile processor platform used in AI-enabled devices.
- Publishers like The Washington Post are enhancing measures to deter AI crawlers, while Politico EU welcomes their presence.
- Digiday+ Research indicates that the majority of brands and retailers leverage generative AI, with chatbots being a popular application.
