MakeMyTrip brings generative AI for travel bookings, collaborates with Microsoft

Generative AI is generating (pun intended) a lot of interest in tech town. The latest to jump on the bandwagon is leading travel portal MakeMyTrip. According to a press release issued by the company, MakeMyTrip has collaborated with Microsoft and plans to use generative AI to “make travel planning more inclusive and accessible by introducing voice-assisted booking in Indian languages.”

How MakeMyTrip will use generative AI
A few months back, Microsoft announced the integration of OpenAI’s generative AI tech in Azure and Azure Cognitive Services. MakeMyTrip will use a stack powered by the two Azure services, which will converse with the user to offer personalised travel recommendations based on their preferences. These will include curated holiday packages based on variable inputs like occasion, budget, activity preferences, time of travel, etc.,

Currently, the beta version of this integration has been introduced in English and Hindi for flights and holiday for customers. MakeMyTrip said the next stage of voice-assisted booking flow will cover other transport offerings. The feature has been embedded into the landing page of the platform and can be activated with a single click.

Like a lot of other platforms, MakeMyTrip will use AI and Machine Learning. Microsoft’s large language models and Indic language speech models, coupled with MakeMyTrip’s natural language understanding capability and travel domain content create the base for users to interact with the platform in any Indian language.

MakeMyTrip will rely on Azure OpenAI Service’s GPT technology to analyse specific user requirements and offer a customised and hassle-free experience. Users will be able to get summaries of hotel reviews as well.

What MakeMyTrip and Microsoft have to say
Sanjay Mohan, group chief technology officer, MakeMyTrip said, “The new update will elevate the user experience and make our platform more inclusive, accessible, and easy to navigate. The beta phase will offer us learnings to further fine-tune all use cases before rolling it out to users at scale. As such, we’ll do a very controlled roll-out of this feature with a subset of our customers.”

Sangeeta Bavi, executive director, digital natives, Microsoft India, said, “Bringing together MakeMyTrip’s expertise with Microsoft’s AI capabilities, including Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, our collaboration will help make travel more inclusive and accessible for travellers across India, with trust and security at the core.”