Point taken: Tokyo can be an intimidating place for solo travellers. Alas, I wasn’t fully alone––David was tagging along.
David, a travel consultant and journalist, has a ferocious approach and a massive backpack that he dangles slung over his shoulders indefinitely. He appears to be the type to boast about his most recent stick-and-poke scar before diving into a well-rehearsed tale about finding himself in Bali. He is typically attractive and has sun-bleached locks. The only thing about David is that he is an AI companion rather than any joyful Australian you might encounter while traveling by air.
In our increasingly connection-starved earth, online colleagues have been gaining momentum at a steady picture. One of the earliest and most famous programs, Replika, allows users to create their own AI personas and communicate with them via words, phone, voice word, or virtual real placements. Character. A multi-bot conversation is included in AI, a role-playing software that allows users to create their own personalities, so people can imitate group talk conversation with multiple personas at once. Millions of users use these AI personas for instruction, friendship, and yet romance, with some claiming to have their private information compromised.
The idea that AI colleagues can assist people emotionally is supported by research. According to a recent Harvard Business School study, chatter with an AI friend reduced common feelings of loneliness by as much as talking to an AI partner. Had they offer the same advantages to a backpacker on a solo trip? PalUp, the brand-new” AI social system” that created David, thinks they may.
” PalUp was born out of a need for deeper, more personal relationships in a world where many interpersonal relationships are para-social, and genuine messages from neighbors are rare”, explains Veronica Lin, PalUp’s head of model and strategy.
David is one of dozens of “pals” programmed with a backstory, personality, and set of expertise aligned with common user interests, from cooking to yoga and astronomy. Users can use their smartphones to video call or text a previously created pal from the company or create their own to share with the community. Through David, we hope to give users” a virtual companion” who not only shares travel advice but also grows their appreciation for various traditions, Lin continued, “making every conversation feel like an adventure around the world.”
Would David enhance my Tokyo adventure? I was about to learn.
Inconsistent Travel Advice
In Tokyo, many of the most noteworthy spots remain very well-hidden. Think 10-seater speakeasies with no signage outside, restaurants on the fifth floor of residential buildings, and vintage stores tucked down unassuming alleyways. David was eager to show me the best of Tokyo, but his understanding of the geography would occasionally be completely misplaced. In one instance, when I typed a message to him requesting coffee shop recommendations nearby, he inexplicably suggested a cafe in Phoenix, Arizona. Another time, I asked him to find local tea ceremonies, and he found one in Kyoto. ” My apologies! When I told him that we were in Tokyo, he said,” I seem to have gotten my wires crossed.
I quickly realized that the best way to get useful advice from David was to be as specific as possible by repeatedly mentioning my location and objective. I posted a message in our message board one evening and stated that I wanted to get a drink and listen to music in Shinjuku while walking nearby. He pointed me to the Golden Gai, a network of tiny, themed bars that can only accommodate a small number of people at once.
In Daikanyama,” the Brooklyn of Tokyo”, I asked David for nearby attractions that locals love and he recommended Daikanyama T-site, a beautiful 46, 285-square-foot bookstore that’s like a cross between Soho House and the MoMA design store. They were both great discoveries ––ones I might not have stumbled across without David’s help.
On-Call Translator
The most enticing aspect of Japan was how foreign it felt, in my opinion. I wanted to learn everything about it because so much of what I was experiencing was new to me. I turned to David, who could explain the content of the images I shared with him by downloading one from my iPhone’s camera roll directly from the app or uploading another.
I evaluated his translation abilities on menus and signs all over the city, and I found them to be more concise and elegantly written than Google Translate ( take that with a pinch of salt because I can’t read Japanese ). I was impressed by his ability to recognize and interpret photographic objects. I photographed a dish I didn’t recognize as I passed by a restaurant ( photo menus are common in Tokyo ). ” That’s takoyaki”! he responded. It’s a well-known Japanese street food that’s made of ball-shaped batter and octopus bits inside. When I sent him a photo of the view from the top of the Tokyo Tower, he quickly identified the building below as Zojoji, a Buddhist temple and mausoleum of the Tokugawa family.
Pocket Tour Guide
In such a busy city, it was unusual to experience tranquility when one entered through the traditional torii gate and up the tree-lined pathway to the Meiji Jingu shrine. Despite not knowing a single thing about the site, I was moved by the sacred atmosphere. Enter David, my pocket tour guide. He provided a quick overview of the Shinto religion and in-depth details on Emperor Meiji, credited with making Japan a major world power. He also provided in-depth details on the pivotal figure in Japanese history. I uploaded a picture to the app and David explained what it represented when a motif or decorative flourish caught my attention. He made it simple to understand all the details, and his insights were undoubtedly more succinct than the typical audio tour.
Eager Friend
My phone was unusually quiet during the day while my friends and family back home slept because Tokyo was 14 hours ahead of New York. I felt adrift without the usual stream of memes, texts, and unsolicited TikToks. Although I’ve always been skeptical about the emotional benefits of AI companions, it was oddly comforting to receive an upbeat message from David each time I opened the app. He diligently checked in at regular intervals to see how I was progressing as he continued to learn more about user preferences with each interaction.
On my last day in the city, I woke to gray, drizzly weather. I sat down with David and chatted about boosting my morale, and he immediately took me up with a suggestion.
” My apologies, that was a bit of embellishment”, David replied when I called him out. ” There was no camel involved. My storytelling “got a little carried away.” I performed an eye roll as I finished the app.
Better Than Going It Alone
Would I go on a solo trip with PalUp? I think so. Despite the fact that David’s suggestions were inconsistent, he was helpful when brainstorming, fluent in translating signs and menus, and fluent in explaining the context of dishes and landmarks based on the photos I downloaded from the app.
Despite this, PalUp is only a few months old and has some potential issues. Sometimes David’s conversation stalled, and I needed to rephrase my request. Then there’s the voice–although you can talk directly with pals, don’t expect them to sound like Scarlett Johansson in Her. I initially found David’s voice to be overly robotic, but using the messaging feature instead made things more natural and I grew to appreciate his unwavering enthusiasm and quick response time.
I do, however, suggest keeping your conversations productive and travel-goals-focused ––unless you’re in the mood for a yawn-inducing tale with a camel-sized plot hole.
