As more and more Filipinos gear up to travel again after being restricted for so long due to pandemic, people’s social media feeds are buzzing with interactive maps of the Philippines. A remarkable web application developed by a Filipino software engineer, Denz Del Villar, is at the core of all these excitements – the My Philippines Travel Level website.
Denz admits that he had in mind the idea to create a Philippine version of a travel map for years, but lack of experience was keeping him from actually developing it . A chance encounter with a Japanese version of a map on Apr 5 2021 gave him the spark and he started working on the project on his ten-hour layover on the way to Turkey and forever changed the way Filipinos travel. Aided by a unique Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot, ChatGPT, Denz was able to craft the Philippine map, add features to the website, and even learn the basics of hosting.
70% to 80% of the website was made using ChatGPT. From creating the Philippine map to programming in ReactJS and adding features like users clicking on provinces and labeling their travel experience, Denz was able to accomlish it all with the help of this AI chatbot. The website gained popularity especially with personalities such as Macoy Dubs and former Vice president Leni Robredo, who shared their travel results on their respective social media.
However, Denz encountered problems with ChatGPT as the chatbot hallucinated while Denz asked help in creating a feature allowing users to share their travel maps directly to their Instagram stories. Despite that, he managed to make a workaround feature with users saving the image of their travel map to share on social media accounts.
OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, acknowledged this flaw in their AI chatbot and addressed it on their blog post in November 2022. Denz shared the importance of being aware of the associated risks of blindly believing in AI information and the need for being educated on the topic.
Speaking of travel, Denz’s own travel level is at 62, as his full exploration of the Philippines started when he moved to Japan from 2015 to 2017 and literally opened doors to new and exciting places. Outside Luzon, he got to enjoy Cebu for his layover from Japan, Boracay for a family trip, and Davao for the National Schools Press Conference in 2010.
The web application also uncovered interesting patterns in the travel map made by Denz’s circle of friends and those on social media. He noted that government workers, as they travel to many provinces as part of their job, scored higher in the travel level as compared to casual travellers.
My Philippines Travel Level website has been visited by more than 2 million people and its reach has far exceeded Denz’s wildest dreams. Companies, organizations, and experts have taken up the gimmick to visualize data like ATM locations nationwide, regional minimum wage rates and many more.
Now, Denz hopes that his website will bring Filipinos to explore their own country more as there are so much to see and experience. With Filipinos traveling more within their own country, his web application also serves as a reminder of the responsibilities held by companies like OpenAI in providing safe, secure, and reliable AI tools and the importance of understanding how AI works for consumers.
