One of Britain’s biggest train companies is planning to let ChatGPT give passengers travel advice when their trains are disrupted.
Thameslink, which was nationalised in May, is using the chatbot to generate information that rail travellers can use when services are delayed or cancelled.
John Whitehurst, the chief executive, said the advice was being issued via WhatsApp, joking: “Don’t tell IT about it, as they keep on telling me I can’t talk about it.”
It follows years of warnings that artificial intelligence technology generates false, misleading and sometimes harmful information.
The revelation came at the Rail Industry Association’s annual conference last week, during a conversation about keeping passengers informed of alternative routes.
The rail boss said: “It’s all about using AI in a different way. There’s always a cyber security threat though.
“It’s also [about] how do you use technology and AI to try and give ... a better output for customers so you can give them certainty on [questions such as] ‘when is the next train’, and ‘what’s the alternative’?
“And I think that’s really key. We’re not there yet, but I think the integration gives us a huge opportunity.”
Thameslink confirmed that it was testing delivery of ChatGPT-generated information provided over WhatsApp, although the trial is currently confined to an invitation-only group of staff.
Users can ask questions in everyday language and ask follow-up questions within the same conversation, The Telegraph understands, receiving information relevant to their particular journey rather than having to find and piece together information from different sources.
A spokesman for Greater Thameslink Railway insisted that the ChatGPT plan was intended to “complement rather than replace” existing customer service information sources such as official social media accounts, apps, and websites.
The spokesman added: “We’re exploring a new way for customers to access Thameslink journey information through ChatGPT, as part of looking at how new technology can make it easier for people to get the information they need.
“The service is designed to use GTR and trusted rail information rather than relying on ChatGPT’s general knowledge.
“It is also designed to be clear when it cannot provide a reliable answer, rather than guess.
“We’re also assessing whether bringing information together into one conversation can give customers a simpler, more tailored way of getting information based on their particular journey and what they ask. Accuracy and reliability are a key part of what we’re assessing before any decision.”