The never-ending question: do you continue to "exploit" something that's already working or "explore" the vast unknown in search for something better? The multi-armed bandit being a slot machine (ie the "one-armed bandit") and the challenge lies in finding out how to choose the most profitable outcome through a series of choices. Online travel site Trivago built a machine learning algorithm to address the explore-exploit dilemma in its accommodation ranking model. Trivago Data Scientist Aida Orujova wrote a blog post explaining why. Trivago already has a list of top-performing accommodations within a vast inventory of accommodations.

Everyone's heard how machine learning has huge potential, how it could upend existing systems and change the world. But that only tells us so much -- to really understand the potential of machine learning, you've got to focus on applications and outcomes. Travel isn't the first industry that comes to mind when you think about machine learning. However, there are impressive innovations coming out of the travel sector with a foundation in machine learning and AI technologies, which should be an inspiration to other sectors in the future. The travel industry has changed a lot thanks to the internet.

Hiring is a seller's market right now -- but AI-powered solutions can give you the advantage. Join execs from LinkedIn, Trivago, and Adecco to learn how how AI is revolutionizing their ability to resource high-quality talent, and how your company can do the same, in this VB Live event. Unemployment is way down, and economists rejoice, but recruiters are suddenly facing a challenge now that it's a seller's market out there. Add to that a skills shortage in some of the fastest-growing fields that's hitting hard on productivity, employee satisfaction, and turnover. Artificial intelligence is leveling the playing field, with solutions for every level of the recruitment funnel.

The acquisition will enhance trivago's product with personalization technology which uses both Big Data and a customer-centric approach. Founded in 2015, tripl has developed an algorithm to give tailored travel recommendations by identifying trends in users' social media activities and comparing it with in-app data of like-minded users. The AI-driven product imitates the way a travel agent would recommend hotel experiences relevant to the customer, and combines it with the ease of online services. Following the acquisition, the former CTO and creator of the tripl algorithm, Hendrik Kleinwächter, will join trivago's development team to continue breaking new ground in personalization. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, trivago is a global hotel search platform, focused on reshaping the way travelers search for and compare hotels.