Should AI Companionship (e.g., "AI resurrected" historical figures) Replace Traditional Guided Tours?
Abstract
guided tour services. They broaden the ways of guided tours through multilingual support, accessibility features, and personalized route
planning to enhance the tourist experience.Although these technologies bring convenience to tourists and cultural heritage, there are still
many problems, such as squeezing the market space of traditional human-guided tours. This paper explores the contradiction between
AI companionship and human-guided tours and puts forward the core view that AI companionship cannot replace traditional human
guided tours at present. It also defines and explains key concepts and theories, such as artificial intelligence companionship, traditional
guided tours, interpretation, authenticity, and human-centeredness, in combination with recent academic discussions and international
case studies. Subsequently, it discusses the unique guided tour experiences that human-guided tours can provide but AI companionship
cannot, such as emotional resonance, active interaction, and cultural community participation. It further explores the potential negative
consequences of AI replacement, including cultural inequality, digital colonialism, economic marginalization of local communities, and
distortion of authenticity.
Keywords
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.70711/rcha.v4i3.9298
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