# Travel needs a richer interface than a text chatbot

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/travel-needs-a-richer-interface-than-a-text-chatbot/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

- Speaker: [Brian Chesky](https://realalpha.app/people/brian-chesky/) · Brian Chesky is CEO of Airbnb. · Built Airbnb from its first hosted stays into a global community with over five million hosts.
- Host: [John Coogan](https://realalpha.app/people/john-coogan/) · Co-host, TBPN · Co-founded Soylent and Lucy; OpenAI bought his show TBPN in April 2026.
- Host: [Jordi Hays](https://realalpha.app/people/jordi-hays/) · Co-host, TBPN · Founded Branded Native; co-founded fintech Capital, which Rho bought.
- Show: TBPN
- Episode: [Airbnb CEO on Why AI Will Create a New Era of Consumer Products](https://realalpha.app/v/TyNufBceyZo/), May 8, 2026
- Moment: 7:04 to 9:26 of the episode (2 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/travel-needs-a-richer-interface-than-a-text-chatbot/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/TyNufBceyZo/?t=424

## Quote

> “I think the future are not apps. The future are agents. But I don't think they're going be text forward. I think they're going to be **really rich user interface**.”
> — [Brian Chesky](https://realalpha.app/people/brian-chesky/) at [9:05](https://realalpha.app/v/TyNufBceyZo/?t=545) · TBPN

## Takeaways

1. Travel shopping depends on comparing many options.
2. Text prompts are less suited to visual, hands-on browsing.
3. Future agents may combine conversation with immersive interfaces.

## About this segment

Brian Chesky argues that chatbots make travel shopping harder because they are text-based, difficult to compare, and not collaborative. He sees future agents using richer, more visual interfaces.

From “Airbnb CEO on Why AI Will Create a New Era of Consumer Products”, May 8, 2026. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/TyNufBceyZo/)

## Transcript

From the transcript TBPN publishes with the episode.

[7:07](https://realalpha.app/v/TyNufBceyZo/?t=427) But we gotta be in a world of AI native. And here's a key point I would make. I do not think a chatbot is the right interface for travel or ecommerce. That might be a radical statement. ChatGPT launched third party apps last year in March. They shut them down. I don't think a chatbot's the right interface. It's got four or five problems. The first problem is it's text based. Photos are an afterthought.

[7:29](https://realalpha.app/v/TyNufBceyZo/?t=449) The second is there's no direct manipulation. You have to type every single prompt, which is fine for a conversation, but you can't like add filters, you can't cook around. The third problem is it's hard to compare. A lot of e commerce and travel is comparison shopping. If you have thousands of options, the AI has to know exactly what you want to be able to show you one or two things, but you usually want to see more choices and you get lost.

[7:53](https://realalpha.app/v/TyNufBceyZo/?t=473) And most AI is single player. It's not collaborative. Let alone the fact that Airbnb, it requires people to have an account. The 85% of people send a message. So what I'm trying to do is match

[8:05](https://realalpha.app/v/TyNufBceyZo/?t=485) Sorry sorry to push back there, but I'm I'm Yeah. Go ahead. My wife's planning a vacation and there's like three ish hotels that we're looking at and we're looking for specific dates and she theoretically, I'm not saying the products are there yet, but theoretically you could ask a chatbot. I'm interested in staying in this location. I'm interested in these hotels. I have x y z number of people and it could go and the agent could go and pull together, like, relevant sort of like listings or or room types, etcetera, pricing, show me pictures, and then actually do an analysis of the trade offs based on all the information available as well as Exactly. Information in other parts of the Internet and pull it together. And then she could share that chat with me and we could both review it together.

[8:57](https://realalpha.app/v/TyNufBceyZo/?t=537) Yes. I agree. That's the future and that's not a chatbot we described. Yeah. That's not a chatbot. It's gonna be a completely different interface. It's gonna be well, I guess you'll have to wait and see. But Yeah. I I I think the future are not apps. The future are agents. But I don't think they're going be text forward. I think they're going to be really rich user interface. Okay. Yeah. And so I think the current chatbot paradigm, what you're describing, it can do it. I just don't think it's the best way to do what you just described. I think there's a much more immersive way to do that.