Paper Type

Complete

Abstract

In the era of Tourism 5.0, generative AI is reshaping travel planning. However, existing research has focused on tools and users, overlooking the broader sociotechnical environment in which AI-enabled planning operates. Drawing on assemblage theory, this study examines how AI platforms, travel platforms, social media, and tourists form digital assemblages on X. It integrates the 5W1H framework with social network analysis to explore actor roles, relational structures, temporal dynamics, and digital practices. The findings identify four actor groups: AI platforms function as information hubs; travel platforms act as intermediaries; social media amplify information flows; and tourists constitute the largest yet least central group, with market mavens as connectors. In 2024, the introduction of Grok to the public fundamentally altered how information was engaged within the assemblage. X emerged as a third space where interpretive, technological, and transactional practices converge. This study extends assemblage theory to digital environments through network-based analysis.

Paper Number

1409

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Aug 15th, 12:00 AM

Digital Assemblages of AI-Enabled Travel Planning: A Social Network Analysis on X

In the era of Tourism 5.0, generative AI is reshaping travel planning. However, existing research has focused on tools and users, overlooking the broader sociotechnical environment in which AI-enabled planning operates. Drawing on assemblage theory, this study examines how AI platforms, travel platforms, social media, and tourists form digital assemblages on X. It integrates the 5W1H framework with social network analysis to explore actor roles, relational structures, temporal dynamics, and digital practices. The findings identify four actor groups: AI platforms function as information hubs; travel platforms act as intermediaries; social media amplify information flows; and tourists constitute the largest yet least central group, with market mavens as connectors. In 2024, the introduction of Grok to the public fundamentally altered how information was engaged within the assemblage. X emerged as a third space where interpretive, technological, and transactional practices converge. This study extends assemblage theory to digital environments through network-based analysis.

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