Planning Your Vacation With AI? Consider the Carbon Cost — and the Human Intelligence of a Travel Advisor

August 25, 2026 John Kirk

There’s a great line from the late Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip that has stuck with me for years:
“When something’s too cheap, somebody’s paying something.”
It comes from the song Morning Moon, and while Gord certainly wasn’t thinking about artificial intelligence when he wrote it, I’ve been thinking about that line a lot lately.

AI has become part of our daily lives. And when it comes to travel, what’s not to like? Ask AI to build a seven-day itinerary through Italy. Compare resorts in Mexico. Find a hotel in London. Suggest restaurants in Paris. Tell me what neighbourhood I should stay in. Translate a menu. Build me a packing list. It feels almost effortless. And, depending on the AI service you’re using, it may feel essentially free.

But it isn’t.

Somebody — or perhaps more accurately, something — is paying something. And one of those things is electricity.

I watched a segment on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS  some time ago which dealt with the rapidly growing electricity demands associated with artificial intelligence.

He cited research by MIT Technology Review that attempted to measure the electricity required for individual AI tasks. CNN reported that a response to a single question using one of Meta’s AI models consumed an average of nearly 7,000 joules of electricity. About the same amount of energy as running your microwave for eight seconds. Or travelling approximately 400 feet on an e-bike. CNN

That is not a universal number. Energy use varies substantially by model, hardware, prompt and type of task. The point is that every AI request has an energy cost even though, to the person holding the phone, it can appear almost weightless.

I started thinking about how I actually use AI. One question suddenly becomes 10. Then 20. Then 30. Multiply that behaviour across millions of users, and the electricity demand starts to look very different. Imagine generating just five seconds of video was estimated to require about 3.4 million joules of energy — comparable to riding an e-bike about 38 miles or running a microwave for more than an hour. Think about that the next time you see an AI-generated clip of someone walking along a perfect beach somewhere. CNN

With this new intel in mind, consider how much electricity you may be consuming when you turn to AI to research or plan a vacation. Or, talk to a travel advisor who has toured the hotel, walked through the rooms, eaten in the restaurants, inspected the beach and sent clients there.

Don’t overlook the knowledge held by the people who actually deliver the travel product: local guides, hotel teams, destination representatives, tour operators and other vendors.  Travel Advisors have these folks on speed dial. Their knowledge base is built on what is happening on the ground now, not simply what’s been published online.

It’s knowing that while the hotel may look perfect online, construction is happening next door. Or that the restaurant everyone recommends isn’t where locals go anymore. Or that the beautiful beach in the photograph isn’t particularly good for swimming. Or that there’s a family-run restaurant three streets away that you’ll remember long after you’ve forgotten the five-star hotel.

AI can tell you an enormous amount. But it hasn’t stood on that beach.

Your travel advisor likely has. And here’s the thing: working with a professional travel advisor generally won’t cost you more. In most cases, advisors are compensated by the travel supplier through a commission for handling the booking and representing their product.

Aha, you might be thinking, so there is a cost to me after all.

Not quite. If you book that same product directly with the supplier, the commission that would otherwise be paid to a travel advisor typically isn’t passed along to you as a discount. In other words, you’re often paying the same price—you’re simply choosing whether or not to take advantage of the professional advice, experience and support that comes with it.

I don’t want to get too cheeky, but perhaps there’s a new way to reduce your carbon footprint: use a travel advisor.

Should We Stop Using AI to Plan Travel? Good luck! It is a good starting point for many. AI is an extraordinary tool for travellers. It can introduce you to destinations you may never have considered, help organize complicated itineraries, compare options, translate languages and answer questions in seconds that might once have taken hours of research. But here’s where I think we need to keep things in perspective. A Travel advisor will work for you. Use their knowledge base and their experience.

Click here to access our expanding list of Professional Travel Advisors who can assist with your plans.

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