Ahead of the Web in Travel Singapore event on October 2-4, titled The Human Revolution, three travel leaders have a go at responding to the show’s big debate – will artificial intelligence make us more or less human?
For more on the debate, tune into the show’s most anticipated closing session.  For now, a few experts gave us their two cents.

So, the big question: Will AI make us more or less human?

Rikin Wu, Chief Executive Officer at travel service provider Dida Travel, thinks AI will give us more time to be human.

“If we leverage AI to complete tasks more efficiently, it can provide us with more time to focus our efforts on activities that are more “human” – such as art, empathy, and social interactions.”

But he warns people to be careful over potential drawbacks to our humanity:

“AI’s impact on humanity will ultimately depend on how we integrate the technology.  As a society we need to carefully consider the benefits of AI against its potential drawbacks, taking into account ethics as well as our goals and aspirations as a society.”

Nuno Guerreiro, Regional Director, South Asia, Oceania & Chains at Booking.com agrees, and thinks it will enhance our humanity:

“AI’s evolution provides exciting possibilities in improving the customer experience – such as making travel planning easier.  In leaning on AI to take care of the mundane, people will have more opportunities to savour more experiences and moments in real life – where it isn’t a question about being less human, but how we can embrace new technologies to enhance the human experience, while enjoying more fulfilling moments.”

Meanwhile, Ross Veitch, CEO and co-founder of flight search and booking app Wego, thinks it will make us question our humanity:

“For now AI is a powerful set of technologies that will help us humans become significantly more productive across many different endeavours. As AIs approach, and then surpass, human levels of intelligence and capabilities, it will force humans to think more about what it is that actually makes us human.”