Since
its founding in 2019, WeGoTrip has offered thousands of audio tours created by
destination experts in more than 250 cities around the globe. Travelers
purchase the tours in WeGoTrip’s online marketplace and download and use the
audio guides on-demand.
Now the startup is offering a new spin
on its product – completely customized tours, created and voiced by generative
artificial intelligence.
"In the evolving landscape of the
digital age, the transformation from a copy-centric economy to a bespoke
content economy is already underway,” said Vitaly Vinogradov, head of product
at WeGoTrip.
“A pioneering example of this
transformative journey is WeGoTrip's innovative introduction of on-demand
tours. As travelers increasingly seek unique, tailored experiences that
resonate with their interests and preferences, the industry stands on the verge
of a profound paradigm shift.”
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Travelers order their tour on the
WeGoTrip website – currently tours are available in the more than 300 cities
worldwide where the company already operates, but tours for other locations can
be requested. Users put in their parameters – duration from one to 12 hours,
language and additional preferences, such as a specific part of a city or a theme
such as historical sites.
Each tour is €35 for use by up to
five people. Once the order is placed, WeGoTrip’s AI system, which uses
ChatGPT, Llama and other technologies, plots a step-by-step route with photos
and a human-sounding voice-over narrative.
WeGoTrip staff review the tour for accuracy and
add additional details as necessary and send it within 48 hours of order to the customer.
“While automated content creation
capabilities are impressive, they are not without limitations. AI can
still produce inaccurate or ‘hallucinatory’ results,” said Alexander Golovaty,
CEO of WeGoTrip.
“The moderation process ensures that each tour
meets our quality standards, providing an accurate, reliable and enriching experience.”
When asked how its offering is different than what someone could create
on their own using generative AI and text-to-speech tools, Golovaty said, “While
users can currently utilize ChatGPT for various purposes, there are interface
limitations at the very least. Our application is specifically designed for
guided tours with thoughtful navigation, displaying the route on a map with
directional cues. The interface is also tailored for consuming tours while on
the move, akin to why people transitioned from paper maps to app-based maps
– simply for the sake of convenience.”
As for future updates, Vinogradov said the company is developing an AI
assistant in its platform, so users can get help and answers to questions in the
moment they are using the tour. The company also intends to add the ability for
users to choose the voice for their narrative and to create multi-day
experiences.