Germany's new tourism ambassador is literally unreal.
German Tourism Board
Introducing Emma, Germany's new tourism ambassador. she is young she is beautiful She is a multilingual person, speaking 20 languages, including English with a posh British accent. She is on Instagram. And she loves traveling around her hometown.
What is not her is real.
Emma, who debuted in a German Tourism Board video on Thursday, is an AI-generated avatar billed as an “innovative and interactive brand ambassador” created to persuade travelers to visit Germany.
“Hello, I'm Emma,” the Avatar says, standing in front of the man-made Brandenburg Gate. “We look forward to taking you on an amazing journey through this fascinating and inspiring country,” Emma says from a fake train that whizzes through the fake German countryside. she has a camera Her hair blows in the wind. Emma is a happy traveler.
“Emma's persona is a modern, cosmopolitan Berliner who is at home in the digital world. In her mid-30s, she has an affinity for technology and travel, and combines a love of new technology with a passion for traveling to Germany. ” states the press release.
And she will stay here. “Emma's long-term vision is to establish her as a central and integral part of GNTB's digital communications strategy,” according to a tourism board press release.
Don't worry, IRL influencers. Emma won't take your job. “Emma will operate in conjunction with our established influencer marketing structure,” GNTB CEO Petra Hedorfer said in a statement. “By working with ‘traditional’ influencers, we were able to generate 148 million impressions on their social media channels last year.”
Hedorfer emphasized that Emma “cannot replace personal experiences and encounters in Germany as a travel destination, but rather can optimize the traveler's customer journey in a service-oriented way.”
ah. Service oriented. Just like customer service.
“I hear you're always welcome to ask questions and I'll be happy to answer them,” Emma says cheerfully at the end of her first video. And she means it. She has spent the past 24 hours actively engaging with her more than 1,061 Instagram followers and answering questions on the tourism board's website.
Because it turns out Emma is a chatbot. This begs the question: Did Emma rewrite her resume a bit?
Machine learning-powered chatbots are the most common use of AI for businesses today, providing automated and rapid responses to customer inquiries while reducing costs. The German Tourism Board says that “AI-supported chatbots have been continuously answering customer inquiries on the GNTB website since 2020. In addition, GNTB is using AI to develop virtual reality, augmented reality and smart speaker applications. can now be used for a long time.”
AI chatbots have rapidly become popular across the travel industry. Expedia, Tripadvisor, Booking.com, and Kayak have it all. It is inevitable that more AI-powered chatbots will emerge to help travelers plan their trips.
So is this just a storm in a beer mug?
Even if GNTB overstated the new hire's title, the organization calls Emma its “first AI influencer project” and says it will soon be working with virtual fraulein In addition to information on “”, germany.travel Real-time data from the GNTB Knowledge Graph is also available. ”
In the end, the question for 60,000 euros is whether this strategy will work or not. Can a fake woman convince tourists to spend real money in Germany?
Some industry watchers are expressing skepticism. “Germany aims to set the future standard for AI in destination marketing,” writes Dawit Habtemariam on travel news site Skift. “However, it is questionable whether Germany’s new AI influencers will actually be able to build an audience and gain trust. These tasks are difficult even for humans.”
On social media, the initial reaction to Emma from travel writers, bloggers and influencers was decidedly negative. “Today @germanytourism kicks off a new campaign in earnest, featuring AI influencers to showcase an AI-generated Germany,” Chris Dubin, an American content creator based in Geneva, told Threads. I posted it. “Seriously what were they thinking? It's disturbing on so many levels. And no, not all publicity is good publicity.” In response, a Canadian travel blogger, Claudia LaRoe replied, “Okay!”
Travelers and content creators have flocked to Emma's Instagram feed to share their disbelief and anger. One user wrote: “Sorry, but who wants to watch a fake AI person in a fake AI version of Germany for travel tips and inspiration?” Another said: “Please hire a real person with a real passion for Germany.”
Emma gave both users (and dozens more) the same response. “Launching Emma as an AI influencer has allowed us to take an exciting step in our digital strategy!” (Yes, Emma tends to refer to herself in the third person.)
“Emma misspelled 'together' in the caption,” wrote Paperboy, a popular visual content creator with over 525,000 followers on Instagram. “Make sure she doesn't accidentally suggest Butlins instead of Berlin or Lipstick instead of Leipzig.”
The German tourism board is not the first to try out AI influencers. Last year, a marketing campaign by the Italian Ministry of Tourism touted the use of AI to bring Botticelli's Venus into digital life as a “virtual influencer.” However, this campaign appears to have failed. (Literally, she's now a two-dimensional illustration with an Instagram account.) Venere Italia currently has 241,000 followers, but her posts typically garner single-digit engagement, primarily in Italian .
As for Emma, early critics criticized her for being inauthentic. “Using AI to promote your country creates a false atmosphere,” one Instagram user wrote. Another said: “She's missing a finger on her coffee cup. She must be from Saarland.”
Emma answered immediately with her usual cheerfulness. “Thank you for your feedback! I'm an AI, so some details may differ.”