Use AI to plan your next vacation

I’m going to Europe soon, and planning my trip was a breeze. Yes, really! AI did a big chunk of the work for me — and it can help you plan your next getaway, too. Here are a few ways to turn AI into your travel agent. For this, let’s stick with using the big bots:

  • ChatGPT: My preferred AI chatbot; gives the best results.
  • Gemini: Google’s chatbot is integrated into Google Flights and Google Hotels. I don’t think it’s as thorough as ChatGPT, and it often throws in its weird opinions.

1. Start with your likes and wants

Your AI travel buddy can do so much more than suggest tourist traps — it can help you create a truly tailored adventure.

🎨 By interests

AI can curate a list of spots that match your hobbies:

  • “Find me the best food tours in Paris that include wine tastings.”
  • “What are some scenic hiking trails within 30 miles of Denver?”
  • “Suggest must-see art galleries in NYC for modern art lovers.”

☀️ By weather

AI can suggest destinations based on your preferred climate:

  • “Find me a warm destination in the U.S. for January with average temps above 70 degrees Fahrenheit.”
  • “What are the best ski resorts in Wyoming for late December?”
  • “Where can I play golf in May with mild, spring-like weather?”

🎭 By occasion or vibe

Not sure where you want to go? Let AI find the perfect match for your mood:

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ChatGPT’s new search engine is here

When ChatGPT launched on Nov. 30, 2022, I knew the web — and the world — would change forever. A week later, I predicted on national radio Google’s days would be numbered. People laughed at me, and I got notes from listeners telling me I was nuts.

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What does it all mean? AI writing tools like Evernote can make sense of your messy notes. In ChatGPT, for instance, you can paste in what you have and ask, “Help me organize these notes into categories.” Be sure to check the output to verify your original meaning wasn’t changed. Pro tip: Ask your bot of choice, “Is there anything that needs more details?” to fill in any missing info.

🩻 It’s not all black and white: You’re putting your private medical data at risk by asking AI bots to analyze X-rays and medical info. It’s tempting, I get it. But ChatGPT and the others don’t have to comply with HIPAA. If you want “Dr. AI” to help, be sure to redact personal info like your name, address and birthday. You never know where this info might end up.

Best AI tools for search, productivity, fun and work

In the past week, I’ve used AI to analyze a loved one’s health care records, create replies for a bunch of emails and map out two weeks in Europe. I used it to make a pic of me look better, too.

I know the wide world of AI tools is overwhelming, so I’m breaking it down today. Consider what’s below your primer on where to start if you’re brand new to the AI game or want to try out some new tools.

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Your next job interview could be with AI

I saw a viral post on LinkedIn where a guy from San Diego, Jack Ryan, logged in for a virtual job interview. Instead of a person on the other side of the screen, it was a bot. You can tell by his face Jack wasn’t impressed. I wasn’t, either.

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Cut through legal jargon: AI can translate complicated legal docs into something you’ll actually understand. Say you’re signing a lease and the contract is confusing. Copy and paste the text into ChatGPT and ask for a simpler explanation. When in doubt, check with a lawyer since AI is far from perfect.

ChatGPT Search: The (maybe? probably?) Google Search-killer is finally popping up on free ChatGPT accounts. Check yours: Log into ChatGPT and look for the world icon at the bottom. Here’s what it’s best for.

Another “godfather”: There seems to be at least a dozen people claiming to be the “godfather” of AI. The newest says OpenAI’s latest o1 model can scheme and deceive us. Yoshua Bengio is calling for better testing and regulatory oversight before things spiral out of control. Researchers have already found o1 is better at lying than previous models. OpenAI’s response? It’s safe. Uh-huh.

“The Twilight Zone” moment: A Michigan grad student was chatting with Google’s Gemini chatbot about homework. Out of nowhere, the bot said, “You are a burden on society … Please die. Please.” Google’s response? Large-language models can sometimes produce nonsensical responses, and this was just one of those instances.

🤔 Did I forget something? If your emails, blog posts, articles or any other writing feel off, ask ChatGPT to check for holes or confusion. Try this prompt: “Could you critique my writing and see if anything is missing?” Another set of (virtual) eyes will save you time.

Not a cure for loneliness: Big Tech says AI tools like Replika let you create a virtual AI companion. The more you chat and pay per month, the more it adapts its tone to become a friend you think you can trust. Remember, you never know what the developers taught it or will take away in a nanosecond.

Speaking of Alphabet, “G” is also for Gemini: Gemini AI in Google Maps can help you find interesting spots nearby, and it even summarizes others’ reviews. Any chatbot can use this data to answer location-based questions. In Waze, you can report accidents just by talking to the app, too. They’re hoping more eyeballs in the apps equals more ad dollars.

Project Jarvis: That’s the name of Google’s new AI assistant for Chrome that’ll handle tasks like booking flights or checking out online for you. Before you use it, it looks like Microsoft’s Recall AI, taking screenshots and monitoring your screen nonstop. Yup, all you do while using Chrome is going straight to Google.

🏰 Vacation tip: A guy traveling in Italy used ChatGPT as his tour guide, but he got creative and prompted the bot to play a more engaging role. Instead of outputting boring, dry facts, at the Pantheon, ChatGPT told him, “When you enter, look up,” then added a little history. I had ChatGPT do a travel itinerary for me for when I visited Berlin, Vienna and Paris, and it was great. You might want to try that, too!

They have feelings, too: Being polite to a chatbot can get you better results. AI mimics human reactions, so if you’re rude, it might hit you with short or wrong answers. Next time, throw in a “please” and follow up with a “Great job” or “That’s perfect.”

🛌 Taller people sleep longer in bed: Women are turning to ChatGPT to catch guys lying about their height on dating apps. Upload four pics, and a bot can size someone up based on their surroundings and proportions. In a test of 10 people, ChatGPT came within an inch of assessing their real measurements. Short kings, I’ve got you: Height-increasing insoles to the rescue.

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ChatGPT started with one option: Now there are a bunch of models of the OpenAI chatbot to choose from. GPT-4o is my default, and it works for most tasks. GPT-4o is specialized for writing and coding. o1-preview and o1-mini “think” in a more advanced way. GPT-4 is still available but outdated, so skip that one.

You don’t know me: If you use ChatGPT on the web, you might notice it starting to “remember” things about you, like your movie tastes or knowledge about specific topics. This can mean more tailored answers for you, but if you’d rather the AI forget who you are, click your profile picture (top right) then Settings > Personalization > Clear ChatGPT’s memory.

Zoom’s post-pandemic Hail Mary: Now that many folks are back in the office, Zoom wants to stay relevant. Their new AI Companion 2.0 has an avatar that can talk for you and adds a panel in all your meetings with notes about previous convos, plus related emails, calendar items and uploads. If it works, it sounds pretty sweet.