It has been revealed that travelers should be skeptical when reading reviews of United and Southwest airlines because the feedback may be written by artificial intelligence.
Since first launching in November 2022, Chat-GBT has left customers concerned about the authenticity of reviews, especially in industries where feedback from real people is an essential element in decision-making.
One of these industries is travel, where people pay high prices for tickets from airlines they consider reliable.
But a recent study by Originality.ai – AI detection experts – found that AI-generated airline reviews skyrocketed by 189 percent across 10 major airlines in the past three years.
And Southwest and United have the most fake reviews in the United States of the ten airlines analyzed.
A recent study found that AI-generated airline reviews skyrocketed by 189 percent across 10 major airlines over the past three years, creating 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, ranking first as the U.S. airline with the highest percentage of fake reviews generated by technology instead of humans.
United Airlines saw the most notable increase in fake reviews over the course of 2024: an overall increase of 157 percent.
The study took reviews from SkyTrax, a popular platform where travelers can leave reviews of their airline experiences, and ran them through an artificial intelligence detector to determine their authenticity.
Although fake reviews were relatively rare in 2017, the release of other AI models, including GPT-2 in 2019 and GPT-3 in 2020, likely played a role in why AI-generated reviews began. to increase in 2020.
The study found that American Airlines experienced a 256 percent increase in erroneous reviews over a three-year period.
Delta Airlines experienced 244 percent growth in that same three-year period.
United Airlines saw the largest increase in fake reviews over the course of 2024, reaching an overall increase of 157 percent.
The growing number of AI-generated reviews has likely been a key factor in the 90 percent decline in customer sentiment over the past decade.
The figures raise a major issue for the travel industry, specifically highlighting the dwindling 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 to read online reviews before making an airline-related purchase, according to YouGov Business.
The study found that the overall emotional connection and feelings customers have toward airlines decreased by a staggering 90 percent over the past decade.
While the timing of certain drops in customer confidence makes sense for what was happening in the world at the time (cancelled flights, weather, and COVID), it’s clearer than ever that AI-generated reviews don’t typically match positive experiences.
China Southern took the cake for the most fake reviews overall, with a drastic 32.4 percent rate of reviews generated by Ai, more than any other airline in the world.
The airline has an average rating of 3.5 stars on Tripadvisor, shedding light on customers who are misinformed about whether they can make a reliable decision or not.
AI-generated feedback is not only damaging the reputation of airlines, but also the customer’s sense of trust in the industry.
Although most airlines are seeing an increase in machine-made fake reviews, China Southern has by far the largest number of faulty reviews.
China Southern has a whopping 32.4 percent of AI-generated reviews, more than any other airline in the world.
Aside from price, brand loyalty plays a big influence on airline choice.
But these airlines risk losing their current market share if the growing problem is not addressed.
The only two airlines that have seen a decrease in emissions are Emirates and RyanAir.
RyanAir fell from 11 percent in 2023 to 6.4 percent in 2024, meaning customers can rely on the airline’s latest reviews.
One reason for this could be the policies the UK is enacting to combat fake online reviews generated by AI.
Interestingly, fake reviews on Emirates only peaked at 7.9 percent in 2023 before falling and remaining at 3.2 percent, suggesting the company may be making efforts to address the issue.
But even if you read reviews carefully, those generated by technology can be extremely difficult to detect.
ChinaSouthern has an average rating of 3.5 stars on Tripadvisor, shedding light on customers who are misinformed about whether they can make a reliable decision or not.
More than 21 percent of travelers make sure to read online reviews before making an airline-related purchase.
“Despite confidence in their own abilities, humans tend to have difficulty detecting AI-generated content,” John Gillham, CEO of Originality.ai, told the outlet.
“One study revealed that experienced teachers only accurately identified 37.8 percent of AI texts,” he added. ‘This is why AI content detectors are so important. They are significantly more effective than humans at identifying AI content.’
However, the problem does not end with the travel industry.
AI-generated reviews on Amazon have increased by a staggering 400 percent since the launch of Chat-GPT, specifically “extreme” reviews, which are categorized as five- and one-star brands.
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 about whether potential AI content is influencing perceptions of quality and reliability.
“There are some important implications of not being able to detect AI content, such as the spread of misinformation, academic dishonesty, and inauthenticity online,” Gillham added.