Is AI heritage tourism interpretations better at deepening your cultural memory?

Heritage tourism interpretation is essential in the display and continuity of local culture. However, selecting the appropriate tourism interpreters based on varying types of interpretation content is becoming a theoretical and practical challenge. This study used three experiments to investigate the congruence effect between heritage tourism interpreters (human vs. AI) and interpretation contents (knowledge vs. affection-based) on tourists’ cultural memory. The results indicate that tourists’ cultural memory is significantly enhanced when human interpreters deliver affection-based interpretation contents, with emotional engagement acting as the mediator. Conversely, when AI interpreters present knowledge-based interpretation contents, tourists’ cultural memory also increases, with mental cognition acting as the mediator. This research clarifies the appropriate contexts for the application of different tourism interpreters (human vs. AI), expands the content framework of heritage tourism interpretation research. The findings provide valuable insights for the selection of effective interpretation strategies.