Airbnb answering my guests' questions

I got a message from a guest who is arriving next week. He sent me a message that said Thanks for that info. Below it was an answer from airbnb which included parts of my listing. When did airbnb bots start answering my guests’ questions?

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??? Weird indeed. So you never got a message yourself from the guest with his question? Is it possible the guest sent his question via the messaging to CS, by mistake, instead of you?

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This is the message the guest sent. This is what airbnb AI assistant sent the guest.
Thanks for that Denise. How far is the Farmhouse from where we will be staying?

Message from Responding to John

Responding to John5:57 PM

Not included:

Wifi

Details from the host:

“…NO PETS and NO WIFI. WIFI access is…”

Check these details in [Amenities]

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@stonethistle @muddy

This is messy and frightening. Not to mention confusing to the guests!

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I had this happen the other day. A guest asked about check-in, and the AI answered automatically with something unrelated or inaccurate. I was chatting with the guest in real time, so I immediately deleted it and told the guest to disregard.

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This is an insane use of AI.

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Just got $100 credit from my bank when I complained about the completely inaccurate response from their STUPID AI chat bot!

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Gross. AI is so clunky. I suspect that the recent changes to the app, (such as forcing all communications and payments through the app) is an effort by Airbnb to maximize the free content AI has to digest.

There is an AI setting you can turn off. Maybe that would help? At:
Menu/Account Settings/Privacy/Help Improve AI Powered Features

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Thanks for that- I never was aware of that section and turned it off. Don’t know if it will keep their bots from answering guest messages, though. Let’s all report back.

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This is what airbnb AI Assistant messaged me when I complained. I followed the instructions of how to turn off help improve AI-powered features. Obviously Airbnb AI assistant doesn’t know that messages are sent to guests without hosts knowing. What I am most upset about, besides, airbnb denying that the messages were sent, is that the message was inaccurate AND that it was sent without me knowing about it.
Hi Denise, Airbnb never sends messages to guests on your behalf—only you can send them. The message your guest received was not sent by AI or any automated system acting for you. However, if you’ve previously created quick replies (even without scheduling them), or if you’ve used the AI Assistant in Messages to draft a response that you may have accidentally sent, that could explain what you’re seeing. To review all your saved quick replies and ensure none were sent by mistake, go to Messages > Settings > Quick replies. You can also turn off AI suggestions in Messages by disabling the AI Assistant’s quick reply recommendations. To prevent future confusion, you may also opt out of having your data used to improve AI models by going to Account > Privacy > Data privacy and unchecking “Help improve AI-powered features.”

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Ew. I just received an email from Airbnb advertising the new fabulous time-saving AI. Here’s a screenshot:

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You’ve done us all a great service leading to learning about turning off the AI feature. THANK YOU!!!

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Grrr. I followed the details you provided, Stonethistle, and discovered about 20 quick replies I did not create, most containing obsolete info (directing guests to defunct, closed restaurants, etc) or misinformation (directing guests to places 20 miles away, across the metro, or claiming very mediocre chain stores to be amazing.)

Augh. This reinforces my experience that AI tools create more, not less, work because you have to waste time getting through the misinformation, and still have to solve whatever issue needs to be addressed.

All while burning through precious resources sure to make water prices rise and the environment hotter. In the midst of a multi-year drought. :disappointed_relieved:

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@stonethistle needs to send a copy of that “Guests receive AI powered answers with details pulled from your listing” email to CS, who erroneously insisted that Airbnb’s AI never answers guest messages to the host.

The way that email is written does not indicate that this is something hosts can opt out of, regardless of their settings- those are listed as “new features”, not new options".

In the details about it:

" Auto-replies

Guests receive AI-powered answers to common questions with details pulled from your listing page. This includes information in your amenities, listing description, and house manual.

Each auto-reply identifies Airbnb as the sender, and both you and your guests can see it. You can delete the reply and send a different response."

Nothing about being able to choose whether or not to use this “feature”.

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Hmmm. We’ll see if we can opt out of auto-answers…:face_with_diagonal_mouth:

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There appears to be at least two settings to address: removal of the already-ai-created quuck replies and turning “off” a toggle at “suggested replies”:
Screen shots:


This is terrible. My hosting and guest care starts immediately when the reservation is made. I write personal information and tailor it to the goals of the guests. AI will not make my hosting easier, it will take extra time to apologize to the guests and redo messages and information!

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Yes, I found that setting. I guess we’ll see if turning it off aborts the AI replies. The way that setting is worded, though- “suggestions”, it sounds more like it just relates to AI showing hosts suggestions on how to answer a guest message and under “Learn more” it only talks about Quick Replies. Which I have never used.

My guests do not ask many questions and are not the kind of questions to which any Quick Reply would be useful. Their questions are all quite varied and as I send them all the info they need well ahead of time, and as I check guests in personally and give them a physical key, no door codes or check-in instructions are needed.

The only info I repetitively send to almost all guests is the instructions on how to catch the bus from the airport, as the vast majority of my guests arrive like that.
But that isn’t sent as a scheduled message to all guests, because some guests are not arriving like that. I ask them how they plan on arriving, and send them info specifically relating to that.

Besides, as @Kitty_Norris said, and I also do, responses are tailored to each individual guest. And the guest messages I get might ask a question, but also often contain friendly, chatty banter, ask me if I need them to bring me anything from the US or Canada, etc.

I can just imagine a guest message like, “Hi Sarah, Yes, I am flying into the P.V. airport, but I’ve been to Sayulita several times, so I know how to get the bus. Thanks for offering to pick me up at the bus station, that would be great. I know there are some things that are hard to get in Mexico- if you need anything from Canada that’s small and light, let me know. By the way, all your reviews are great!”

Then the AI bot picks up the keyword “reviews” and sends the guest a message saying, “You will be able to leave a review after your check-out.”
Or picks up “bus” and replies, “Your host will send you bus information a week before your arrival.”

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Thanks for your upvote. I am trepidating on this so-called improvement. I home share, and none of their options apply to me. AI is a huge time waster for me. I have to closely edit texts, messages of all kinds, as it comes up with all sorts of things that are not my intention. Yikes! I need less of this “assistance”

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I guess I will start sending guests the following within my tailored-to-the-guest response message, right after they send a request, saying "Please note: this site has now started automatically and instantly sending guests AI responses to messages without host approval. Please ignore any message you receive in this message stream that doesn’t close with my name, as it will be AI generated and may contain irrelevant or incorrect information. "

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