Airbnb Is Using AI to Deliver New Features Faster

The popular travel services platform Airbnb has begun actively using artificial intelligence technologies to develop and test its products. According to ixbt.com, company executives said they had significantly increased the speed of creating new features and delivering them to users. These changes are causing a major shift both in the company’s internal operations and its customer support system. Techcrunch.com reports .

At the company’s latest financial results meeting, CEO Brian Chesky specifically noted that artificial intelligence had reduced the time from an idea to its practical implementation by 60 percent. The number of new features and improvements introduced during the year to date has risen by nearly 80 percent compared with the same period last year. These achievements have paved the way for further improvements to search, check-in, booking and payment processes.

Artificial Intelligence in Search and Customer Support

Although artificial intelligence capabilities are being introduced more slowly in the consumer-facing interface, Airbnb is taking a distinctive approach. Until now, the company had limited its use to review summaries and highlighting the key aspects of listings, but it has now begun testing a new artificial intelligence search feature. It will allow users to find suitable accommodations in a visual format using simple text queries.

The new search system will not necessarily replace the traditional filters familiar to customers. The company is providing access to artificial intelligence search through a dedicated button. Results are presented in a conversational format and personalized by artificial intelligence in real time. The check-in process for hosts has also reportedly become significantly faster.

Customer Support Costs Have Fallen

Significant changes have also taken place on the technology’s backend. After launching its artificial intelligence-based bot in North America, Airbnb expanded it to more than 50 languages and plans to introduce it for voice calls in the near future. Today, nearly 45 percent of requests initiated with the help of the artificial intelligence agent are resolved fully without human intervention.

As a result of these automation processes, the company’s annual support costs per booking have fallen by 16 percent. Brian Chesky said artificial intelligence is being directed toward solving more complex tasks in travel and search rather than merely providing chatbot functionality, which will make the platform more efficient in the future.