The travel sector is not an exception to the potential disruption caused by the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The increased capabilities of AI-Generated text have led to concerns about a possible surge in fake reviews in the tours and activities industry, according to an article I read this week. I’d even go so far as to say that this should worry everyone in the travel business.
The legitimacy of internet evaluations is crucial in the tourism sector for influencing consumer choices and fostering company loyalty. In this essay, I’ll go through the dangers artificial intelligence-generated phony reviews have to the tourism sector and what may be done to stop them.
Artificial intelligence-generated false reviews can be very persuasive and challenging to discern from real evaluations, which is one of the main reasons they pose a concern. Legitimate reviews can be analyzed by AI algorithms, which can subsequently produce comparable but fraudulent ones that seem real. Customers’ perceptions and choices may be influenced by these false evaluations, which may cause them to make choices that fall short of their expectations. This not only damages the company’s reputation but also erodes the confidence that consumers have in online reviews.
Artificial intelligence-generated false reviews are alarming for another reason: they might negatively affect a company’s exposure and rating on review sites. For instance, a company with lots of phony positive reviews would have a higher rating, which would increase its prominence in search results. This might cause reputable, high-quality market participants to fall in the search results, which would make it harder for them to draw in clients.
So what can be done to stop fake reviews created by AI in the travel industry?
Adopting advanced AI-based technology that can recognize and report bogus reviews is one approach. These tools examine reviews and establish the reliability of them using machine learning methods. Review platforms can do this to get rid of false reviews and make sure that only real ones are shown. In essence, AI fights AI! After the computers have finished their work, the items that the system is still undecided about could be placed in a queue to be reviewed by a human agent, similar to how trust and safety procedures like moderation, labeling, categorization, and so forth are carried out in social media networks.
Implementing tougher verification procedures for online reviews is another option. For instance, review sites could ask users to provide images or videos as confirmation of their experiences. This would boost the review process’s transparency and credibility while making it harder to manufacture fraudulent reviews. However, it can also deter genuine reviewers from engaging in the process.
In conclusion, artificial intelligence-generated bogus reviews pose a serious risk to the travel sector. However, this threat can be lessened, allowing the sector to keep expanding and thriving. The travel sector can increase client trust and give them a more accurate picture of the experiences they can anticipate by confirming the validity of online evaluations.