LatestMachine LearningBuilding an AI Travel Assistant: Lessons from Real-World Challenges 0 like February 10, 2025Share this postAuthor(s): Prisca Ekhaeyemhe Originally published on Towards AI. This member-only story is on us. Upgrade to access all of Medium.Imagine planning a trip and needing instant flight updates best prices, shortest layovers, and real-time availability all in one chat. Thats exactly what I set out to build: an AI-powered travel assistant.image from openAI chatYouve probably heard the saying: AI wont replace you, but the person using AI will. While AI can generate code, understanding the fundamentals is still crucial. The best way to learn? Get your hands dirty.As I developed this chatbot using OpenAIs API, I ran into several unexpected challenges. Here are three major roadblocks I faced and the solutions I discovered along the way.ChatGPTs web interface has a browsing feature, but this capability isnt available when calling OpenAIs API directly. This meant my assistant couldnt fetch live flight data on its own I needed an external API.To retrieve real-time flight details, I used SerpAPI, which returns all necessary information (prices, routes, layovers, airlines) in a single call. However, if a user first asks for price and then later asks for flight routes, calling the API again would be wasteful. Challenge: How do I store and reuse the API response so that my chatbot Read the full blog for free on Medium.Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming asponsor. Published via Towards AITowards AI - Medium Share this post