On Artificial Intelligence
Why Brooke In The Air Travel Rejects AI in Favor of Authentic Human Service
Artificial Intelligence is supposed to be the wave of the future, yet it is proving to be more trouble than it's worth. People also have differing conceptions of what that future looks like, and virtually all those views are erroneous.
Welcome back, everyone. Today's article is more of a delicate statement on where Brooke In The Air Travel stands on Artificial Intelligence and its presence in the travel industry. First, let's clarify some things. What people think of as “A.I.” is not true Artificial Intelligence. True Artificial Intelligence is a man-made entity that is not only generative, but can realistically think for itself and has the ability to self-determine; realistically, Artificial Intelligence is just that: “Artificial,” meaning false or unnatural, and “Intelligence,” meaning one of high intellect. The three main types of Artificial Intelligence, agentic, agentive, and generative, are not true Artificial Intelligences. Agentic, as the descriptor implies, refers to autonomous-use artificial intelligence systems powered by large language models (LLMs) that can independently plan, reason, use tools, and execute multi-step workflows to achieve a goal with limited human supervision. Thus, they have their own agency—in theory.
Generative A.I. is what most laypeople use and is installed on chatbot programs and most cell phones. Generative artificial intelligence is a type of computer technology that creates original content—like text, images, music, and code—in response to user prompts and guidance. In other words, it “generates” user-desired results, programs, and code. Agentive artificial intelligence is arguably the most advanced overall, as it is the closest to developing its own agency. Agentive artificial intelligences are systems designed to autonomously execute tasks, make decisions, and manage multi-step workflows based on human-defined goals and procedures.
Rather, they are marketed as such, but in reality, they are simplistic V.I.s, or Virtual Intelligence Interfaces, being marketed as Artificial Intelligences. Each company has its own “dedicated” A.I. program, but they are all modeled after the same basic “blueprint.”
Companies are taking advantage of this “A.I. Boom,” as economists are calling it, with immense fervor. They generally seek to reduce costs and general overhead at the expense of random or minute software and, more importantly, hundreds to thousands of people's jobs. Google alone cut more than 14,000 jobs from its Silicon Valley headquarters and main office in a mere two-month span, according to the Wall Street Journal. That is a 40 percent staff reduction from its primary location. That was just one stark example. Banks, telecom companies, auto companies, logistics firms, and even the travel industry, just to name a few, are all starting to use Artificial Intelligence at the cost of good jobs and skilled employees. These are, for the most part, not companies that are in financial duress. In fact, to use Google as another example, a company firmly in the financial black, according to numerous quarterly reports from Bloomberg financial news, was already making a sizable net profit when it started the shift to using Artificial Intelligence. The motive for this can be summed up simply as, to put it bluntly, corporate greed.
Small independent companies are using A.I. as well for similar reasons. They find it is easier and simpler to buy access to an “A.I.” and therefore use its algorithms to build and market their brand, market their product, and ultimately expand their company's reach.
This reasoning is entirely understandable, as it costs less to buy access to an algorithmic predictor program (which is really what it is) than to go through the interview process and hire employees. However, Brooke In The Air Travel prefers to use a tried-and-true methodology. We do not shun technology; we are not Luddites. We simply prefer not to use artificial intelligence when we can employ actual humans to do the jobs we would have to program conventional A.I. to do in the first place, only to have A.I. get it wrong 70% of the time regardless.
When people accuse us of using Artificial Intelligence, it is an apathetic method of dismissing discourse on travel. Further, it is a lazy way of easily writing off hours, if not days, of dedicated research, writing, and analysis—skills originating from years of higher education on Brooke's part.
Please know that when you book an itinerary through Brooke In The Air Travel, you are getting what you pay for: authenticity. We sit down with you over Zoom or MS Teams and methodically plan out your vacation or business trip itinerary from the very first day onward. Whether your trip is international or domestic, we plan with you for what you want to see or experience and sort out what you don't. Our team is with you the entire trip over text and WhatsApp, at least 18 hours a day. We make sure the flight is appropriate per the itinerary agreed upon, and we make sure you get to your hotel via train, bus, shuttle, or private transfer. When it is time to go home, we ensure your transit from the hotel to the airport is booked, and your return flight is on time. We charge a fair amount at Brooke In The Air Travel, and we believe you should get the “real deal,” as the saying goes.
There is no A.I., be it agentive, agentic, or generative, involved at all. Even our website, brookeintheairtravel.net, is built by hand.
When we post news stories, we do not use Artificial Intelligence for any research or writing. It is all done by human minds and hands. We refuse to deprive human beings of good jobs just to make our bottom line look two percent better at a quarterly meeting.
