Travel Lemming Takes on AI Chatbots, Unveils Human-Picked USA Summer Bucket List

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May 16, 2023, 08:38 ET

Calling it the "AI antidote" to the "robotic recommendations" of chatbots, the online travel guide unveiled its annual summer list of 150 unique things to do in the USA.

DENVER, May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- To kick off the 2023 summer travel season, Travel Lemming released its picks for the 150 best things to do in the USA this summer. The list is an annual project by the online guide, which has more than 10 million readers.

This year's guide directly confronts the rise of generative AI, highlighting that human creators handpicked every attraction on the list.

Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, #3 on Travel Lemming's list of 150 things to do in the USA this summer.

Showcasing the depth of America's diversity, the list features a Bavarian Village in Washington, a tiger sanctuary in Colorado, the world's largest musical instrument in Virginia, and a ghost town in the Nevada desert.

The top ten entries on Travel Lemming's list of things to do are:

The Wild Animal Sanctuary (Keenesburg, Colorado) - an open-air sanctuary home to rescued animals, including 39 tigers once owned by Tiger King's Joe Exotic and 9 lions airlifted from Ukraine.
Leavenworth (Washington) - a Bavarian-themed town offering a taste of Germany in the Cascade Mountains.
Valley of Fire State Park (Nevada) - a 46,000-acre crimson oasis of desert outcroppings, petroglyphs, and petrified forests.
Pilsen (Chicago, Illinois) - a culturally-rich Latino neighborhood featuring vibrant art, music, and mouthwatering food.
Luray Caverns (Virginia) - a 400-million-year-old network of caverns, home to the biggest musical instrument in the world.
Sensorio (Paso Robles, California) - a whimsical lightshow installation featuring 100,000 stemmed spheres.
New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning (Readington, New Jersey) - a festival featuring 100 colorful hot air balloons from July 28-30.
Brewery Hopping (Asheville, North Carolina) - an everyday fun activity that takes in the best of America's "Beer City."
Dead Horse Point State Park (Utah) - an overlooked state park featuring 16.6 miles of singletrack mountain biking trails.
Olympia (Washington) - an underrated state capital home to a vibrant artistic community and nearby natural attractions.

The full list of 150 best things to do can be found at: https://travellemming.com/best-things-to-do-in-usa-2023/.

Travel Lemming's team of two dozen writers and editors collaborate to create the list, with the goal of highlighting the USA's hidden gems.

This year's list also explicitly addresses the rise of generative AI chatbot advisers, which have been recently touted by several big tech companies as a new way to plan travel.

"Like lemmings over the cliff, we'll all travel to the same destinations if we allow AI to dictate our itineraries," says the article.

Travel Lemming editor Abigail Bliss commented: "These activities are based on expert travelers' first-hand human experiences. AI-generated suggestions can't replace the authentic advice of locals who have eaten at these restaurants, felt the energy of these festivals, and seen America's magnificence."

Nate Hate, CEO of Travel Lemming, added: "Every Silicon Valley generative AI demo includes a travel planning example. But the big tech companies seem to forget that travel is about exploring the human senses. Without human creators to share their lived experiences, AI chatbot recommendations will quickly become stale."

About Travel Lemming
Travel Lemming is an online guide with more than 10 million annual readers. It publishes detailed original guides written by dozens of local and expert travelers with firsthand experience.

Media assets can be found here. Interviews can be arranged upon request.

Press Contact: Taylor Herperger
[email protected]
+1 306-745-7501

SOURCE Travel Lemming