Algorithms and AI 'a far more insidious sheriff' for tourism than Lonely Planet, travel writer argues
Ben Groundwater says social media and AI now concentrate tourists far more than guidebooks ever did
Ben Groundwater, a travel writer for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, argues that algorithms and artificial intelligence have replaced Lonely Planet guidebooks as the primary force shaping where people travel, and the effect is now "infinitely multiplied." In an opinion piece published Wednesday, he writes that whereas Lonely Planet was once criticized for sending everyone to the same places, modern social media feeds and AI tools such as Google Gemini and ChatGPT dictate travel choices on a far larger scale.