Riders using AI for trip planning

Winnipeg Transit has recently received several anecdotal reports that high school students and 1st/2nd year university students are using ChatGPT and other AI engines to plan transit trips on our network, instead of using our own Navigo trip planner, or the Transit App.

One of the complaints we received is that the Blue Line is the only transit route serving the University of Manitoba. This is completely untrue, but by trying to use several AI engines to plan trips, we discovered that they all give really bad information. Some tell people to use routes that no longer exist, some tell people to use that have never existed (the AI basically invented a Route 675, which we have never had), and if they provide a real trip, it’s usually a bad option. The fact that some of the AI engines direct everyone to the Blue Line probably explains why we are seeing so much overcrowding on that route!

I asked everyone I know who has high school or university-aged kids to ask them about their use of AI. The result of that totally-unscientific poll is that, although it’s certainly a minority of young people using AI to plan transit trips, it’s enough that it’s causing me concern… especially seeing as it will likely only grow.

Is this something anyone else has noticed?