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A new frontier for travel scammers: AI-generated guidebooks
These shoddy guidebooks bolstered by sham reviews have proliferated in recent months.
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Shoddy guidebooks that appear to be compiled with the help of generative AI have proliferated in recent months on Amazon.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: PIXABAY
Seth Kugel and Stephen Hiltner
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In March, as she planned for an upcoming trip to France, Ms Amy Kolsky, an experienced international traveller who lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, visited Amazon.com and typed in a few search terms: travel, guidebook, France.
Titles from a handful of trusted brands appeared near the top of the page: Rick Steves, Fodor’s, Lonely Planet. Also among the top search results was the highly rated France Travel Guide by Mike Steves who, according to an Amazon author page, is a renowned travel writer.
