Topics
recent
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Twenty20
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Image Credits:Twenty20
Cloud Computing
commercialism
Crypto
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Fundraising
convenience
back
Government & Policy
Hardware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
Security
societal
Space
Startups
TikTok
transport
Venture
More from TechCrunch
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
newssheet
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
adjoin Us
Can reproductive AI substitute for having a societal graph ? California - found local experience discovery startupBigfootis hoping the addition of a conversational interface to its weekend planner website — in the physique of anAI chatbot it ’s brandmark Littlefoot , which set in motion last week — will give it a more personalized feel while make it easier for the great unwashed to find relevant stuff to do in their neighborhood .
The idea is to recreate the feeling of chatting to a “ knowledgeable admirer , ” explain co - founder Alex Ward .
The feature have users engage with Bigfoot ’s curated supply of local outcome , activity patch or nightlife options via back - and - forth text — making it easy to prompt and steer the AI to serve up relevant recommendations for a slight weekend fun . Say a rise with a view , follow by a BBQ tiffin nearby and an evening gig closer to home . Or a cultural tour of modern art museum following by a picture class and wine-coloured tasting . The startup ’s mission is to make it easier for people to do more locally in their leisure clock time by have the weekend preparation appendage less of a faff .
While this idea is scarce new — traveling fitting behemoth Airbnb , for instance , has offeredexperience discoveryfor the best part of a decennary — Bigfoot ’s team reckons there ’s still an opportunity to establish a mark around a better weekend bodily process provision putz that caters to local leisure . Major platforms are more focused on travel and guided experience ( see also : Get Your template ) .
Bigfoot launch in late 2022 , pulling in a little pre - seed funding from some concern angels and a couple of early - stage VC firms . It says it has built a provision pipeline of over 120,000 event , eating house , nightlife , sports , out-of-door activities and more across 160 metropolis . Those are showcased through category - focalize lookup on its website .
The newest addition to its product is the ability for users to engage with its supply of ideas for things they could do topically via an AI chatbot powered by large language manakin ( LLMs ) , let in AI technical school from Anthropic , OpenAI and Perplexity .
Ward , one of a trio of old-fashioned - Airbnb staffers behind Bigfoot , sustain the GenAI port feature is essentially a merchandise relaunch . Usage of the startup ’s local events and experience discovery platform peaked at up to around 30,000 monthly user for v1 of the merchandise after it launched in New York and when it was shell out on merchandising , he severalise TechCrunch over a call .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
The squad will need to secure seed support to continue building toward their big visual sensation : local breakthrough powering an offers platform for low businesses to pull in more foot dealings . So a mess is riding on Littlefoot come through friends and shape folks await for aid locking down their next action - packed weekend .
“ [ At peak selling ] we were growing at about 40 % calendar month over month , ” he said . “ So we kind of proved that there was a genuine interest group in this type of product . But we could n’t just keep expend on marketing . We wanted to focus on building out a intersection . We heard ordered feedback from other alpha users … [ that ] what they wanted to see was this product where you’re able to , essentially , mouth to Littlefoot like you ’re verbalise to that knowledgeable friend . ”
That ’s the bet , then . But the struggle for consumer aid looks substantial — not least from the general - design chatbots and AI search locomotive engine that some of the self - same foundational mannequin makers whose genus Apis the inauguration is tapping have made freely available .
Anyone can ask a creature like OpenAI ’s ChatGPT or Perplexity ’s AI search locomotive to design them an activity - pack weekend in New York or Madrid , for instance , and immediately get a bunch of suggestions . Though these cosmopolitan - role AI dick will typically bring forth rather generic recommendations — picking the most obvious , touristy things .
Bigfoot ’s squad reckons there ’s an chance to do a better occupation on local leisure time find , recommending more interesting and contextually relevant hooey for the user to do , thanks to this combo of GenAI plus 50 + curated “ trusted ” datum sources .
Per Ward , the supply powering their weekend plan good word span mainstream content they can access through APIs , such as Google Maps data , to more off - the - beat - track source like specialist hiking blogs . The idea being this is a commixture that enable Littlefoot to produce recommendation that are n’t so smooth .
They are still drawing on mainstream LLMs to do the colloquial oink work for the tool , though .
“ We use 50 + dissimilar sources , trusted sources , around the globe for supplying . We also are using Perplexity to serve augment our supply . We ’re plugged into Perplexity ’s API , ” he said . “ The reality is a circle of this [ cracking local knowledge ] is in the minds , or in the pins of the Google Maps of people who are saving these thing . So we ’re proceed to get well and better around this curated supply . ”
“ But for us the kernel is all about curated supplying . What we are progress in the future is the power to connect your Google Maps API so that if you save Google pins we make it utter simple to add aggregation — newfangled collections of thing to do or to create new day around the things you ’ve done in the past times . ”
“ Also being able to touch base your Spotify API — so we have a sense for the sort of medicine you like [ for instance to personalize recommendation for gig and other local medicine events ] . And , finally , what we in reality have in alpha already is the ability to send an Apple Federal Reserve note or a Google Map and to make an entire collection from just a list of things . ”
The production is designed to pop the question a fertile experience for users , pulling in imagery to illustrate urge events and activities and even displaying related TikTok videos . So , basically , it ’s the opposite of displaying a dry , bullet - pointed school text list like you might get if you need ChatGPT to plan you a weekend . ( Albeit , some people in weekend preparation mode might actually prefer a introductory tilt — that story of info density can make it easy to cross - reference suggestions with your own sure sources . )
However not all general - use AI tools are so dry on the display side . Perplexity ’s AI search engineserves up some imaging by default , for instance , and conveniently link to origin for easy reference point — as the service is similarly pore on turning people ’s hunting into appeal summaries and even optical guides . So the competitive departure in product experience there is more of a small step than jumbo jump .
Something AI-recommended for the weekend?
We compared Littlefoot ’s suggestion with recommendation served by worldwide - purpose Master of Laws using the same prompt . Littlefoot does produce some less obvious trace compared to a general - purpose chatbot .
So while OpenAI ’s ChatGPT ’s suggestion for a weekend in Barcelona include some very obvious tourer bit like Park Güell and a Magic Fountain Show at Plaça d’Espanya , Littlefoot offered more off - the - beat track and eclectic choice — like a salary increase to Parc del Mirador del Poble - Sec and an “ alternate modernista circuit ” promising a “ less touristed way to discovery Catalan contemporaneousness . ”
But whether the average exploiter will notice and revalue this kind of nicety is more difficult to say . tot to that there was also some overlap in some of the recommendation .
People look for more specialist weekend experience are also potential to be hardest to win over as they will already have a bunch of their own trusted reservoir ( i.e. those literal knowledgeable Friend ) for that — so competition for Bigfoot seems more likely to be mainstream general - purpose search tools .
During tests , the startup ’s AI tool did misfire on some quite obvious stuff , too . For example , asked for “ outdoorsy ” recommendations , the very first activeness it suggested was “ indoor go - karting ” ( per the case verbal description ) . In that case , the accompany picture did show a go - kart being used outdoors . So the issue there may be down to Bigfoot ’s team ( also ) rely on GenAI for copywriting case / activity descriptions — and that leave machine - yield text being deceptively generic .
This form of contextual mismatch does feel jarring , though , and may quickly work people off a nascent product .
Another example : Asking it to recommend outdoor bouldering spotlight on natural rock’n’roll the AI render a bunch of , er , indoor mounting gymnasium and general fitness gymnasium … So this more specialist ask was even more poorly served .
Each activity recommendation includes a clitoris below it that drug user can clack to let the AI “ make my day ” — i.e. if they like the look of an mind . After a few moment they ’ll be served a robust view of a full likely weekend plan , come with by stills and TV imagery pulled from public source like TikTok , along with map views of urge locations .
The logic of how the tool baffle from a undivided suggestion the user picks out to a full programme ( i.e. comprised of several things to do ) is not unclouded . But the indicate Clarence Day schedule can be blue-pencil to trade out dissimilar element ( say substituting one restaurant for another ) — and there ’s a copyable data link for plan sharing with champion .
Overall , the interface feel a mo rough around the edge . Clearly this is MVP territory . A bunch of signposting and finessing work needs doing , especially around plan introduction , product system of logic and timings of transitions between visual component . The smoothest UX aspect is definitely the text - New World chat with the AI — but that ’s also of course the most commodified .
If the team can smoothen some of these seam and boost usability as they reiterate — finding a angelical bit between enliven visual solar flare and ease of use — they might be onto something . But there ’s no doubt this is a tough trouble they ’re tackle in a hyper - free-enterprise space .
Even serving better - lineament recommendations for hoi polloi ’s weekend preparation alternatives might not be enough as people will often still attain for the conversant platforms out of habit . Put another style , scaling a consumer inauguration can feel consanguineous to climb up a very great mountain these day .
“ I think one booby trap that a lot of newfangled companies have around local discovery is that they expect users to do the study to impart provision , ” concedes Ward . “ And the reality is masses just desire perfect , amazing , unique , curated things to do . And so there ’s a lot of study that conk out into that — for us to be able to have the supplying there and directly address the cold - startle job that you ’re not plump to succeed .
“ If you expect people to mother the supply for you , or to create the provision for you , it just does n’t ferment . ”
A lean team of six is behind Bigfoot with ideas to keep boosting functionality and meliorate personalization , such as let users upload their notes and map peg to turn into optical plan or collection that could be partake in .
Another approximation they ’re toy with is offering a version of Littlefoot that could work inside WhatsApp to reach those group chat between weekend - provision friends . But they will demand to raise more financial support to keep this journey going .
“ We are in active conversations around our seed fund , ” confirms Ward . “ We are expect for great cooperator who deal this vision to assist keep building . We are a small team that ’s build a wad but … the exciting part is finding really great married person who want to fall in us on this journey and oeuvre with us to retain to build it out . ”
This report card was updated with a chastisement to the total amount of upshot and activities provide Bigfoot has available
