United Airlines Blocks AI Agents from Booking Flights

In depth

United Airlines updated its terms of use ahead of the holiday season, prohibiting autonomous artificial intelligence agents from booking flight tickets through its systems. Digital assistants will be able to show prices to customers, but the purchase itself will be carried out by a human.

The airline justifies the decision by concern over privacy, unintended purchases and unauthorized actions such as changing details or using flight points. In addition, it warns that connecting AI agents to customer accounts could violate regulatory rules.

For safety reasons, the passenger must personally declare the baggage they carry, so the process cannot be transferred to an automated agent. CEO Scott Kirby refuses to insert a new intermediary between him and passengers. Expedia's shares rose 3% following the news.