Air India has introduced AI.g,(pronounced ‘AI dot ji’ or simply ‘AI ji’) a generative AI powered virtual travel assistant powered by ChatGPT on WhatsApp. This assistant aims to aid travelers with inquiries on a broad range of travel-related topics and offer access to various features, the airline said in a statement on Monday.

The multilingual chatbot’s seamless accessibility on WhatsApp opens up a new guest support channel for Air India, enabling travelers to ask questions across a wide spectrum of over 1300 travel-related topics and access a host of features.

Guests can engage with AI.g by connecting through the WhatsApp number +91 96670 34444. They can communicate with AI.g in their preferred language, and it will understand and respond in the same tongue. AI.g currently supports Hindi, English, French, and German. Users can switch to other languages at any time by typing in the desired language.

Through a simple WhatsApp chat, Air India guests will now be able to easily check real-time flight status and baggage information, download boarding pass or get a copy of their e-tickets, select seats, check the status of customer support requests generated online, and ask many other common questions, without having to call the airline’s customer contact centre.

Rajesh Dogra, chief customer experience officer at Air India, expressed the airline’s commitment to innovation, stating, “At Air India, we’re constantly innovating to make every touch point in the travel journey seamless and delightful for our guests.”

This is not the first instance of an airline carrier introducing a generative AI chatbot. Recently, IndiGo launched an AI chatbot named 6Eskai, powered by GPT-4 technology. It was developed entirely in-house by IndiGo’s digital team in close collaboration with Microsoft.

Similar to Ai.g, 6ESkai is capable of performing a wide range of tasks, such as booking tickets, applying promotional discounts, booking add-ons, conducting web check-ins, assisting in seat selection, planning trips, answering FAQs, and connecting customers with an agent.

Furthermore, the bot is not only capable of understanding written or typed language but also verbal instructions through speech-to-text models.