AI Companies Are Obsessed With Planning Your Next Trip
A perfect day in Los Angeles starts with a stroll along the Venice Beach boardwalk. Then a ride on the Ferris wheel in neighboring Santa Monica. Then visit the Getty Museum, some nine miles away by car. After that, Beverly Hills, then Hollywood to see the Walk of Fame, then Griffith Park for a hike, then Chinatown for dim sum, then downtown, perhaps to catch an evening show at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Or at least, that’s what a chatbot thinks a “perfect day” is. This agenda was custom-made for me by Microsoft Copilot after I told it I had one day in town to explore the sights and asked it to plan accordingly. “Certainly! ???????? Here’s a jam-packed 24-hour itinerary,” Copilot responded, before rattling off an eight-part answer. What I didn’t tell Copilot is that I already live here—and know that such an itinerary is perfect only if your idea of bliss is spending most of the day traversing one of the country’s most sprawling, traffic-clogged cities, frantically popping from landmark to landmark. …
