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AI Assistant Instinct Books Hotel Rooms via Plain Text, Showing Travel What Frictionless Really Looks Like
Instinct, an invite-only AI assistant created by 23-year-old Noah Shinn, can book and rebook travel directly from a text thread, offering a concrete example of frictionless booking.
Instinct, a new text-based AI agent, has become Silicon Valley's latest buzzworthy startup after demonstrating that it can arrange a hotel stay from a simple SMS exchange. The assistant, founded by 23-year-old Noah Shinn, is designed to execute tasks with minimal friction, including making and changing travel reservations.
Altimeter Capital founder Brad Gerstner highlighted the capability this week on X, posting a screenshot of Instinct booking a hotel room from a plain text message. Gerstner wrote that he and friend Bill Gurley had made a bet two years ago about when consumer AI would seamlessly book a hotel room, adding that Shinn and Instinct have made it a seamless reality.
Instinct is currently available on an invite-only basis and works through SMS and WhatsApp. "There are no new interfaces," Shinn said in an X post. "You can text or call it."
The tool has generated notable excitement in the venture capital community, with TechCrunch reporting that the bot has become a hot topic among investors. For the travel industry, Instinct's early demonstrations offer a pointed reminder that talking about frictionless booking is not the same as delivering it.