Abu Dhabi’s Etihad is offering passengers AI to book flights

The Abu Dhabi-based airline, Etihad Airways, is introducing a new way for passengers to book flights, by using artificial intelligence (AI).

The carrier has partnered with Astra Tech, allowing bookings to be made through the company’s chat app, BOTIM. Etihad Airways customers can simply type in their basic details and BOTIM will complete the booking on their behalf. The app uses a generative pre-trained transformer (GPT), which will be the first to work in Arabic.

Etihad Airways has also introduced a free onboard chat service, allowing passengers to use popular chat apps throughout their flight.

The use of AI in the aviation industry is becoming more widespread, with airlines in India beginning to embrace the technology in their operations, and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport teaming up with the security technology company, Pangiam, to increase the use of AI in its security screening processes.

The possibilities of AI in aviation are only just being discovered, and it is likely to feature more heavily in our lives going forward.