Shocking reason why you cant trust online reviews for United or Southwest Airlines
Travelers should be skeptical while reading reviews for United and Southwest airlines because the feedback may be written by artificial intelligence, it has been revealed.
Travelers should be skeptical while reading reviews for United and Southwest airlines because the feedback may be written by artificial intelligence, it has been revealed.
Since first launching in November 2022, Chat-GBT has left customers concerned about the authenticity of reviews - especially in industries where real-person feedback is an essential element in the decision making.
One of these industries is travel - where people are paying high prices for tickets with airlines that they deem trustworthy.
But a recent study conducted by Originality.ai - experts of AI detection - discovered that AI-generated airline reviews skyrocketed by 189 percent across 10 major airlines over the last three years.
And Southwest and United have the largest amount of fake reviews in the United States out of the ten airlines reviewed.
A recent study discovered that AI-generated airline reviews skyrocketed by 189 percent across 10 major airlines over the last three years leading to a disconnect between customers and airlines
Southwest Airlines had an AI-generated review rate of 8.7 percent in 2024 - the highest percentage of all US airlines
Southwest Airlines had an AI-generated review rate of 8.7 percent in 2024 - taking first place as the US airline with the highest percentage of fake reviews generated by technology rather than humans.
United Airlines saw the most prominent surge of fake reviews over the course of 2024 - increasing by 157 percent overall.
The study took reviews from SkyTrax - a well-known platform where travelers can leave reviews of their airline experiences - and analyzed them in a AI detector to determine the authenticity.
Although fake reviews were relatively rare in 2017, the launch of other AI models, including GPT-2 in 2019 and GPT-3 in 2020, likely played a big part in why AI-generated reviews began to uptick in 2020.
The study discovered that American Airlines experienced a 256 percent increase of faulty reviews in a three year period.
Delta Airlines saw a 244 percent growth in that same three year period.
United Airlines saw the most prominent surge of fake reviews over the course of 2024 - reaching a 157 percent increase overall
The increasing number of AI-generated reviews has likely been a key factor in the 90 percent decrease of customer sentiment over the past decade
The numbers pose a major problem for the travel industry - specifically highlighting the diminishing relationship between customers and their trust in the services these airlines can provide them during travel.
More than two in ten customers - or 21 percent of travelers - make sure they look at online reviews before making their airline-related purchase, according to YouGov Business.
The study discovered that the overall emotional connection and feelings that customers have towards airlines decreased by a whopping 90 percent over the last decade.
Although the timing of certain dips in customer sentiment makes sense for what was going on in the world at that time - cancelled flights, weather and COVID - it is more clear than ever that AI-generated reviews do not typically align with positive experiences.
China Southern took the cake for the most fake reviews overall with a drastic rate of 32.4 percent of Ai-generated reviews - more than any other airline around the world.
The airline has a 3.5 star average rating on Tripadvisor, which shines light on customers being ill-informed on whether theyre able to make a trusted decision or not.
AI-generated feedback is not only hurting the airlines reputation, but the customers sense of trust towards the industry.
Although most airlines are experiencing an increase in fake, machine-made reviews, China Southern has the most amount of faulty reviews by far
China Southern has a whopping 32.4 percent of Ai-generated reviews - more than any other airline around the world
Aside from price, brand loyalty plays a big influence in airline choice.
But these airlines are at risk of losing their current market share if the growing problem isnt addressed.
The only two airlines that have seen a decline in the issue is Emirates and RyanAir.
RyanAir dropped from 11 percent in 2023 to 6.4 percent in 2024 - meaning that customers can trust more recent reviews of the airline.
A reason for this could be the policies being enacted by the UK to combat AI-generated fake reviews online.
Interestingly, fake reviews regarding Emirates only hit its peak at 7.9 percent in 2023 before dropping down and staying at 3.2 percent - suggesting that the company may be taking efforts to address the problem.
But even if youre mindful in reading reviews, ones that are generated by technology may be extremely hard to spot.
ChinaSouthern has a 3.5 star average rating on Tripadvisor, which shines light on customers being ill-informed on whether theyre able to make a trusted decision or not
More than 21 percent of travelers make sure they look at online reviews before making their airline-related purchase
Despite confidence in their own ability, humans tend to struggle to spot AI-generated content, John Gillham, CEO of Originality.ai, said to the outlet.
A study revealed that experienced teachers only accurately identified 37.8 percent of AI texts, he added. Which is why AI content detectors are so important. Theyre significantly more effective than humans at identifying AI content.
The issue doesnt end with the travel industry though.
AI-generated reviews on Amazon have increased by a staggering 400 percent since the launch of Chat-GPT - specifically the extreme reviews, which are categorized as five-star and one-star markings.
Gillham noted that the reliability of dozens of platforms - AirlineQuality, TripAdvisor and even Google Reviews - should raise questions for both the customer and the airline on whether possible AI content is influencing perceptions of quality and trustworthiness.
There are some significant implications of not being able to detect AI content, such as spread of misinformation, academic dishonesty and a lack of authenticity online, Gillham added.
