Fake AI videos of snowy Amsterdam leave tourists disappointed, anger tour guides
On social media, highly polished images and videos are circulating of snow-covered Christmas markets in central Amsterdam, tulip fields despite it being winter, and festively decorated streets, giving many tourists the impression they might encounter these scenes during a Christmas trip to the Dutch capital. The problem is that much of this content is generated using artificial intelligence.
Some of the AI-generated videos advertise a Christmas market on Dam Square that does not exist. Others show well-known streets blanketed in snow, even though a white Christmas this year is unlikely, the Dutch national weather service has said.
Several videos also decorate Amsterdam with imaginary elements, adding fairy lights along canals where none exist or placing a giant snowman on Dam Square.
Tour guides working in the city center have told NOS they are unhappy with the trend, saying it creates unrealistic expectations among visitors. Disappointed tourists are less likely to return to Amsterdam and less likely to recommend the city to others, they said.
“We keep getting phone calls and emails saying, ‘We would really like to see this place,’ and then I constantly have to disappoint people by telling them it doesn’t exist,” one tour guide told NOS.
