“Bots are programmed to sell, not care!” Artificial intelligence roasted in creepy ad for travel agency network

“Bots are programmed to sell, not care!” Artificial intelligence roasted in creepy ad for travel agency network

Arguably no one’s copped it harder than the travel industry since the arrival of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

But, with vaccines now rolling out, the hope is we’ll all soon be taking to the air (or boat, car or ferry) soon for our next vacation.

Enter a new campaign for US travel brand Internova Travel Group, which represents some 62,000 travel agents throughout America.

The TVC’s called ‘Book Human’ and is the work of Toronto-based and cooly-named advertising agency Broken Heart Love Affair.

The ad features a humanoid robot that plays on the idea that things like AI and algorithms will never be as good as the human touch you get from booking your next vacation with an Internova agent.

It’s a clever idea that pokes fun at our passion for technology in the whole CX experience, but at the same time comes across all a bit creepy, weird and David-like from the 2012 sci-fi flick Prometheus.

Get weirded out watching it below:

 

 

Commenting on the work, Internova chief marketing officer Brent Rivard said: “The old way just became new again. People today have access to a plethora of online booking algorithms to plan their vacations, but artificial intelligence won’t give you a unique, personalised experience, and it doesn’t particularly care if anything goes wrong.

“Bots are simply programmed to sell, not care. It’s time for humans to take back what’s rightfully theirs.”

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