30s Summary

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) believes artificial intelligence (AI) could greatly benefit tourism in major countries like the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Canada. According to an OECD policy paper, AI could make tourism more sustainable and innovative, improve visitor experiences and automate various services. However, the OECD warns of potential risks, such as issues with data quality and environmental effects. They urge policymakers to consider data protection, job impacts, and AI education in the tourism industry. The OECD also advises sharing knowledge among the G7 countries to foster better AI practices in tourism.

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Big countries could benefit big time from using artificial intelligence (AI) in their tourism activities, says the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These countries include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US, often known as the G7. But there are some risks to consider as well.

In a new policy paper, the OECD talks about how AI is becoming super important in making tourism more innovative and sustainable. When they looked at how AI is already being used in tourism, they found some really cool benefits. This included stuff like making visitors’ experiences better, improving access and interactions with audiences, as well as automating all sorts of internal processes and services for tourists.

The paper says: “AI can help us promote more sustainable tourism practices by helping us manage resources more effectively. This includes using energy better, reducing waste, allocating workers with the right skills appropriately and directing tourist flows effectively.”

In a way, AI tools could totally revolutionize how different tourism activities and policies work. Local communities could also benefit by managing tourist flows better with the help of AI tools. But to make sure this all works out great, the OECD says we need to keep evaluating and adapting AI technologies as we go along.

AI tools are also able to gather detailed data, which can help improve how we make policies in tourism. This data can also be used to teach AI models to perform specific tasks in the tourism industry. But, the OECD does point out that there are some risks associated with using AI in tourism, like problems related to data quality, security, and effects on the environment.

The OECD has given a heads up to policymakers about certain key issues they need to think about when using AI in tourism. This includes making sure data protection is rock solid, consumers are well-protected, understanding how jobs might be affected, and giving proper AI training and education to everyone involved in the tourism industry.

OIDC warns that laws and regulations surrounding AI will greatly affect tourism and future policy making. In this regard, they suggest that it would be good for the G7 Tourism Working Group to encourage sharing of knowledge on specific issues among the seven countries.

Abdullah bin Sharaf Alghamdi, the president of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), recently announced that Saudi Arabia was ranked third by the OECD’s AI Policy Observatory, following the US and UK. That makes Saudi Arabia the top place in the Middle East for developing trustful AI tools and policies.