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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Patrick Collinson

Fake reviews: can we trust what we read online as use of AI explodes?

One-star rating on device screen
Google told Guardian Money that during 2022 it blocked or removed 115m fake reviews of hotels, restaurants and businesses. Photograph: Sean Gladwell/Getty Images

The four-star hotel in Kraków in Poland, the review says, is “excellent”, a “short walk from the main square” and boasts a “first-rate” spa and fitness centre. A less positive review describes it as “small, cramped and outdated” with “lumpy” pillows. But then a family who stayed said they were made to feel “instantly welcome”.

The truth is that none of those reviews are real. They were generated in seconds by the free-to-use artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT. These “visitors” definitely didn’t stay at the hotel, as they don’t exist.

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