6 Big Travel Takeaways From Skift Tech Forum
Photo Credit: Roger McNamee (left) of Elevation Partners spoke at Skift Tech Forum June 27, 2019 about the authoritarian nature of how Facebook and Google are using Big Data. At right is Skift founder and CEO Rafat Ali. Skift
Skift Take
The travel industry is obsessed with Big Data and artificial intelligence. The genie is out of the bottle. But the best way to use it will trigger an intense debate and much soul-searching.
To see video of sessions from Skift Tech Forum 2019, click here
A Data Divide Most speakers at Skift Tech Forum are obsessed with how to use Big Data in the form of machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve their products and the customer experience. But there was not unanimity. Roger McNamee, co-founder of Elevation Partners, early Facebook investor, and author of "Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe," argued that "data is a drug. To see into the thoughts of consumers is very compelling." But McNamee said companies like Google use data to manipulate consumer choice, which is inherently authoritarian, and that this destroys travel brands. He said the way platforms like Facebook and Google do damage to children, and disseminate hate speech are public health and civil rights issues. McNamee said travel companies have so much potential to be a force for good without allowing the big platforms to surveil consumer behavior. He said travel brands should provide their customers with burner phones with c