{"id":390280,"date":"2025-11-19T16:28:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T16:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/390280\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T16:28:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T16:28:13","slug":"buckingham-palace-christmas-market-why-tourists-flocked-there-and-found-just-locked-gates-and-big-puddles-artificial-intelligence-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/390280\/","title":{"rendered":"Buckingham Palace Christmas market: why tourists flocked there \u2013 and found just locked gates and big puddles | Artificial intelligence (AI)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Name:<\/strong> Buckingham Palace Christmas<\/a> market.<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> Brand new this year.<\/p>\n

Appearance:<\/strong> Fantastical.<\/p>\n

Really? A Christmas market? At Buckingham Palace? <\/strong>Yes: broad paths lined with wooden huts, festooned with lights and Christmas trees, \u201ca beautiful winter wonderland atmosphere\u201d \u2013 all within the forecourt of the royal palace.<\/p>\n

It sounds almost too good to be true. <\/strong>Does it? But look at the picture!<\/p>\n

I am. Where are all those lights hanging from? <\/strong>They\u2019re just floating. It\u2019s part of the magic.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s snow on the ground. When was this photograph taken? <\/strong>Don\u2019t worry about that \u2013 come see for yourself. There are plentiful trains to London, and they\u2019re all free!<\/p>\n

Wait \u2013 is this a hoax? <\/strong>It bears some of the hallmarks of a hoax, yes.<\/p>\n

Such as? <\/strong>Fake AI-generated pics of a Christmas market at Buckingham Palace plastered all over TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.<\/p>\n

To what end? <\/strong>It\u2019s a mystery. More than one account has posted a variety of these AI fakes, with no apparent intent.<\/p>\n

Other than disappointing Yuletide-loving royalists? <\/strong>It has certainly done that. Lots of visitors have reported turning up to find nothing but locked gates, security fencing and puddles.<\/p>\n

So there\u2019s no truth to it? <\/strong>There is a festive pop-up in the Royal Mews gift shop round the corner from the palace gates, with royal-themed Christmas gifts and a single hut selling hot drinks out back.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not the same thing. <\/strong>So the Royal Collection Trust has been obliged to clarify. \u201cThere will not be a Christmas market at Buckingham Palace,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n

Is this kind of AI hoaxing common these days? <\/strong>I\u2019m afraid it is. In July, it was reported<\/a> that elderly tourists were being lured to Perak in Malaysia by video of a cable car ride that doesn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s unbelievable<\/strong>.<\/strong> And tour company Amsterdam Experiences is reporting an increase in customers requesting trips to unreal Dutch locations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The windmills of their minds? <\/strong>Windmills situated alongside picturesque canals and tulip fields they have only seen in AI-generated images.<\/p>\n

When will people learn? <\/strong>Not soon, it seems. Tourists who use AI services to plan their travels can find themselves stranded on remote mountaintops in Japan, or looking for an Eiffel Tower in Beijing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not normally one to make snap judg<\/strong>ments, but if you use AI to plan your holiday, you\u2019re <\/strong>pretty misguided.<\/strong> Maybe, but apparently 30% of international travellers do this now.<\/p>\n

Do say:<\/strong> \u201cNever travel anywhere without first verifying that that place actually exists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t say:<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019m looking for the front gates to Jurassic Park. Is it behind the carpet warehouse, or what?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Name: Buckingham Palace Christmas market. Age: Brand new this year. Appearance: Fantastical. Really? A Christmas market? At Buckingham…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":390281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[691,738,158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-390280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-technology","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115577310597301212","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}