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DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL has partnered with a company called CityMe AI to devise one of the world’s first Artificial Intelligence tour guides.
However, the Council has said there are no plans to continue the partnership with or to develop the concept further.
It comes after walking tour guides and historians criticised the move.
CityMe AI describes itself as an “Artificial Intelligence urban tourism audio company” and it develops “local” AI-guides.
The company says on its website that the guide is “endowed with a native personality and is expert in the city”.
It works by downloading the CityMe app, choosing the city tourists want to discover, and users are then introduced to their AI-guide.
The app currently has AI-guides for Dublin, London, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid and Sevilla, with plans to roll it out in Berlin, Roma, Malaga, New York and Cadiz.
CityMe AI said ‘Brendan’ has “distinct Dublin wit, charm, and a playful personality” and can cover over 500 cultural and historical spots across the city.
In the introductory video on the app, Brendan describes Oscar Wilde as the “GOAT” (Greatest of all time).
A spokesperson for CityMe AI said the app uses geolocation and AI-audio technology to provide real-time narrations for each location in a “warm, locally inspired storytelling style”.
CityMe AI added that there are “plans also in motion for him to speak Irish”.
However, there has been criticism of the move.
Historian Donal Fallon expressed concern that tour guides could be “out of a job for AI slop”.
“AI slop” refers to low-quality, and sometimes inaccurate and nonsensical content, that can be generated by AI tools with little human oversight.
“You could develop a really brilliant interactive map of Dublin, with each stop opening a video of a real, living person explaining a site,” added Fallon in a post on social media.
Dan McKenna from Original Dublin, which offers several different types of walking tours of Dublin, also voiced concern about AI slop.
Speaking to The Journal, he noted that AI is “not always reliable for historical facts”.
He said he did an “experiment” with an AI tool and posted a question to the AI around a supposed historical event that never happened.
“It gave us a nonsense story explaining how this made-up event happened.
“It’s not a reliable source, because it just trawls the internet and the internet is not always reliable.”
He added that guides can be a “very personal thing” and AI is unlikely to replicate this.
“There’ll be some people who will prefer this, but I think most people would prefer to hear someone actually from Dublin.
“There’s something about human association that is resonant, that makes people react to it, and guiding is especially personal.
“That is something that matters to people, but whether it’ll matter to people in 20 years, as all of this stuff develops, remains to be seen.”
‘Connection’
Garvan Rushe started tour guiding in 2009 and established Dublin Tour Guide in 2012.
He also noted that people are looking for “connection” on tours and told The Journal that such apps such are “short lived”.
“We don’t just tell people information, that’s a very superficial understanding of what a tour guide does.
“It’s more important to want to connect with people than it is to be a historian.
“There’s so much more value in the experience than just learning information or hearing stories and that connection is not going to be replaced by an AI.”
He added: “This could potentially risk jobs, and Dublin City Council has better things to be spending its time on, such as providing more public seating and public bins.
“They’re just not thinking about these amenities that make it easier for tourists.”
However, he noted that the Local Enterprise Office within the Council is “fantastic and does a lot to help businesses.
“It would be nice if the Council would contact the industry,” said Rushe.
“However, I think it has limited risk because people want to experience Ireland and meet Irish people and they know AI with an Irish accent is not an Irish person.”
Elsewhere, Peter Gormley from Yellow Umbrella Tours also highlighted the importance of the personal connection.
“The concept isn’t new and similar apps have been around for years, although now they’re developing and powered by AI.
“At the same time, the number of people who go on walking tours with a live guide has increased enormously so I wouldn’t have any concern about this app.”
He also expressed hope that it might be a worthwhile venture.
“I wouldn’t necessarily have a negative view about using this technology and I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing.
“To ignore the fact that AI is out there probably wouldn’t be a good thing.
“The city has to have to keep up with technology, and I’m sure other cities will take advantage of this new type of technology.”
In a statement to The Journal, Dublin City Council said its Smart Cities team is always trying out new ideas and looking at emerging technologies.
The AI-guide has been rolled out under Smart Dublin, which was founded in 2016 by the four Dublin Local Authorities.
Its stated aim is to “future-proof the Dublin region by trialling and scaling innovative solutions to a wide range of local challenges”.
Meanwhile, Dublin was last year named European Capital of Smart Tourism and the Council spokesperson said that as a result of this, the team were approached by CityMe AI to pilot an “AI guide for the independent traveller”.
It went live last Friday and the spokesperson said “we sought feedback across our social channels”.
However, it appears that such content has been deleted from Dublin City Council’s social media channels.
The spokesperson added that there are “no plans currently to continue the partnership with CityMe AI or to develop this concept further”.
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