At first, the idea sounded almost unbelievable: would travelers really sign up for a tour promoted by an AI-generated persona? But as more local guides in Xinjiang began posting warnings, it became clear that this was no longer just a strange online gimmick.
A Xinjiang tour guide complained: “I’ve been working as a local tour guide for so long, and I always thought our competition was about photography skills, genuine service, and professional tour management. I never imagined that this year, what’s damaging Xinjiang’s tourism reputation isn’t low-cost tours or poor service—but AI ‘fake’ tour guides.”
A staff member from a Xinjiang travel agency said: “Once you add them on WeChat, all their messages are copy-pasted templates. Ask about specific itineraries or details, and they never answer properly. There’s no real human emotion or warmth. And when you look at their WeChat Moments, it’s all stolen online images and heavily edited fake photos.”
The funny thing is, these AI fake guides rely on attractive appearances to draw attention, and their posts get surprisingly high engagement, often attracting hundreds or even thousands of likes and comments. Meanwhile, posts from real tour guides usually get only single or double-digit engagement.
Another Xinjiang female guide, Ms. L, said that AI guides have appeared not only in Xinjiang this year, but also cross Tibet, western Sichuan, and the Qinghai-Gansu Grand Loop. Most are promoting low-cost tour packages, clearly operated by marketing accounts behind the scenes.
“They first use AI fake guides to draw in customers, but once travelers arrive, the guide may instantly turn into a ‘middle-aged man,’ with poor photography skills, bad accommodations, and often subpar service. Any genuinely high-quality tour would never use fake guides to promote itself.”
Unfortunately, there is still no effective fix for the spread of AI fake guides. For now, the only option is to report them to platforms, which may remove individual accounts but does little to address the low-price tour chain and grey-market operations behind them.
