How to Use AI Effectively in Your Business and Marketing

As we head into the new year, I want to share something a little different from the usual “new year, new goals” speech. 

The biggest shift in travel is not where people are going. It’s what they believe. 

AI is making travel planning easier. A recent Adobe survey found nearly one-third of U.S. consumers (29%) have used AI services to plan trips, and AI-driven traffic to travel sites has surged.  

But AI is also making travel planning harder, because it’s accelerating something I’ll call the “believable nonsense problem.” 

You’ve felt it. Your clients have felt it. The internet is filling up with AI-generated content that looks legit, sounds confident, and is either shallow, outdated, or flat-out wrong. One travel publication recently described “AI slop” as a flood of low-quality, misleading travel content that buries the good stuff.  

Even major platforms are having to actively police it. Tripadvisor’s 2025 Transparency Report notes 214,000 AI-generated reviews were flagged and removed in 2024 to prevent misleading content. 

At the same time, institutions are warning that deepfakes and AI-driven fraud are scaling, which forces everyone to care more about verification and provenance.  

So yes, the world is getting more “AI.” But the deeper shift is this: 

We’re moving from an information economy to a verification economy. 

And that’s where I want to draw a bright, friendly line between two very different uses of AI: AI slop vs. AI-augmented truth. 

• AI slop is what happens when someone uses AI to produce volume, not value. It’s content optimized for clicks, speed, and “sounds right.” It is ungrounded, unverified, often copycat, and occasionally dangerous. 

• AI-augmented content is the opposite. It’s when AI is used like a power tool, not a replacement brain. 

It gathers and organizes. It checks sources. It flags uncertainty. It tracks updates. It helps a professional (you) make a better decision faster. 

That’s the kind of AI we believe in, and it’s the direction we’re moving with what we’re deploying (more on that below). AI that is tethered to verified information, with fact-checking and guardrails, plus human judgment where it matters. 

The problem isn’t that AI makes things up. The problem is that people don’t notice when it does. 

The challenge I want to leave you with: 

As an advisor, I want you to make your business more verifiable. Not louder. Not busier. Not trendier. Just more provable. 

A few examples of what that can look like: 

• When you recommend something, show your evidence. 

• “I sent clients here in September.” 

• “I’ve toured it.”  

• “My BDM confirmed the renovation timeline. Here’s what changed since last season.” 

• When a client brings you an AI-made itinerary, don’t roll your eyes. Make it your product: “This is a great starting point, let’s stress-test it for reality, any undefined risks, and maximize the value.” 

• Build a visible reputation for honesty. Not just how amazing the trip will be, but what’s uncertain, what’s a tradeoff, and what you’re doing to reduce regret. 

This will be challenging. I’m asking you to lead like a professional in a world that is increasingly rewarding confidence theater and falling prey to sycophantic AI pep talks (you know… “That’s a great idea, Jason!”). 

The irony is that as information gets cheaper, trust becomes the most expensive thing on the shelf. And trust is exactly what you already know how to build, one client, one trip, one kept promise at a time. 

AI doesn’t reduce the need for advisors. It splits the world into two camps: 

• People who use AI to manufacture confidence. 

• Professionals who use AI to manufacture clarity. 

I know which camp you’re in.