Why Rick Steves Cautions Travelers About Using AI To Plan A Trip To Europe

One of the most controversial technological advances in recent years is artificial intelligence, or AI, which is rapidly changing many aspects of our society — for better or worse. Of course, travel is not immune. Many are now espousing the glories of AI to plan their next dream trip, often using specific tools like ChatGPT or Google Gemini. This got us wondering: What do old-school travel experts like Rick Steves think? Ever pragmatic, Rick Steves does not dismiss AI entirely, but recommends that travelers be aware of the potential pitfalls of AI. He wrote: "With seemingly endless capabilities, AI lulls you into believing that it's the perfect all-in-one trip-planning tool. But ... it can be prone to problems" (via RickSteves.com).

As a travel website relying on well-crafted travel stories from well-traveled experts, we studiously avoid AI in our articles. However, like Steves, we know there are travel benefits to using AI, whether that be brainstorming ideas or helping you to pack. Yet if you're not careful, AI could seriously mess up your trip by recommending places that don't exist, providing inaccurate information about opening times and costs, or incorrectly calculating time between destinations, for a few examples. 

So how can you use AI in a way that is helpful? The short answer is: Use it as a jumping-off point. As Rick Steves notes on his blog: "When something as precious as your trip is on the line, anything you glean from AI should be double-checked with a trusted, up-to-date, human-vetted source — such as a good guidebook, thorough online research of primary sources, or advice from a well-traveled friend."

According to a survey from Global Rescue (via the BBC), 30% of travelers now use AI to help plan their international trip — and a similar survey from InsureMyTrip showed 66% of Americans used AI to plan a multi-country trip. However, this AI use comes with drawbacks. The same BBC article highlighted a 2024 survey of travelers who used AI to plan a trip. From this survey, around 33% of participants said the AI provided incorrect information, and 37% found that AI didn't provide enough useful information. Outside of these statistics, the internet is filled with stories where AI takes travelers to distant canyons that don't exist or stranding them at the top of mountains. Taken together, it's fair to say that, if you do use AI to plan a trip, proceed with caution.

But using AI for travel isn't all hopeless. Rick Steves comments that an "AI bot can be a fun and efficient tool for taking care of low-stakes tasks that could help your trip," such as weather-appropriate clothing ideas, what to pack, currency information, and initial brainstorming or inspiration. This is where AI can shine. But when it comes to make-it-or-break-it aspects of your itinerary, you should be wary of relying too much on AI. As Steves says: "If AI doesn't know the answer, it will very confidently provide you with a made-up one," and this can apply to important aspects of your trip like flights, hotels, and travel time. 

I wanted to test this myself, so I used AI to plan a trip to four different European cities over 12 days. While the itinerary included interesting sightseeing spots in each destination, there were several glaring mistakes. Several places the AI recommended were in a totally different city, and the itinerary neglected to calculate travel time between each city. Ultimately, it pays to always verify these important details from a trusted source: airlines, maps, hotels, destination websites, guidebooks, or PlanetWare News (to be completely biased).