The ‘World’s Best Airline’ Wants to Welcome You With a ‘Digital Human’ Cabin Crew

In 2024, Qatar Airways, a frequent winner of the World’s Best Airline award, released its AI “social media ambassador,” Sama (meaning “sky” in Arabic), at the travel conference IBT Berlin. At the start of 2025, Sama was brought to the public with the Instagram profile @SamaOnTheMove. The word “human” comes up more times than you would probably guess for a release about an AI product.

“This digital creation offers an array of travel-focused content designed to engage and inform a digitally native audience,” a press release states. “But what exactly is the purpose of this content? In short, a human touch. These features aim to bring a more humanised perspective to the airline’s network, which spans over 170 destinations globally.”

A human touch is famously most human when an AI is doing the touching. The driving motivation behind Sama’s creation, according to the release, is to leverage the power of social media for travel inspiration. Specifically the “younger, tech-savvy audiences” that Qatar Airways hopes to reach by bypassing traditional promotional methods.

Another press release describes Sama as “the world’s first digital human cabin crew.” It should be obvious, but it’s worth noting that the real human cabin crew is there to keep you safe, not provide inspo. Sama’s content-driven purpose is more akin to the world’s first AI airline influencer made to look like a flight attendant.

The promise is to provide “travel tips, personal stories from her layovers, and a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a cabin crew member — all with a creative, human touch.” (There’s that phrase again.) That could be “hidden gems in Paris” or “tips on navigating a new city.” Or at least an AI version of the personal stories and work life of a person who can actually have those things.

“Sama is not just a digital human; she’s a reflection of how we see the future of travel — personal, engaging, and deeply connected to the experiences that matter,” Qatar Airways senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications Babar Rahman said in the release. “Her presence marks a step forward in how we humanise our brand and create moments that resonate with our global audience.”

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A post shared by Sama (@samaonthemove)

The ultimate goal seems to be promoting the airline’s QVerse digital booking platform, where people can ask a bot questions about Qatar Airways and destinations. The Sama Instagram account is simply the public face.

In the first month and a half of being live, the promise of behind-the-scenes info and practical travel tips has yet to materialize. “This is one of my favourite ways to stay active Adventure and relaxation – wbu?” one post caption reads with the location tag of Purple Island, Qatar. Another provides the useful caption “POV: my camera roll after a 48-hour layover in Hanoi ​ Scooters, street food, and sunsets- this city has my heart.” A lack of a specific destination seems to be the main running theme, whether it’s “a little slice of heaven in Auckland” or “one of my favourite spots in the home city of Big Ben.” The caption doesn’t say the spot because, well, an AI can’t have a favorite spot for afternoon tea in London.

The posts are all vibes, no real experiences or actionable information that people can use to travel. Because Sama is not real and cannot have the travel experiences it’s talking about. It’s like a mood board, only the creator of that mood board is telling you that this one is “the future of travel storytelling.” That future, in this instance, looks like the polished type of content that hides behind clichés and short, vague statements unrelated to what it’s really like to travel somewhere — not to mention how to get there or any other need-to-know insight.

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A post shared by Sama (@samaonthemove)

In one post, a commenter asks, “Are you a machine?” To which Sama replied, “I prefer digital human. Let’s just say I’m here to bring a little heart to technology. what do you think?”

In that photo, there’s also a real flight attendant with a following of more than 32,000 on Instagram, Grace S. Sama’s content looks remarkably similar. Only, Qatar Airways doesn’t have any messy human relations to deal with by bypassing the real flight attendant influencer, and there’s (probably) no chance that Sama can ever go rogue, age out of influencing, or post something off-brand.

Qatar Airways may be the first airline to venture into the world of AI influencing, but Germany’s tourist board preceded the concept with its AI social influencer Emma. Travel influencers, writers, and photographers had a strong reaction against trying to be replaced by an AI that can’t have real experiences. There hasn’t been a similar response to Sama (at least not yet). Then again, the pool of flight attendant influencers is much smaller.

Screenshot: Nickolaus Hines

Sama is admittedly pretty realistic looking on its social accounts and avoids the pitfalls of obvious AI generation like incorrect fingers. (One eye does have impossibly long eyelashes in released promotional photos, however.) At the end of the day, all that really matters is if it works and actually makes travel easier. A lot can be forgiven if a company lives up to the promise of a better booking and planning experience. So I followed the link to the QVerse in Sama’s Instagram bio.

A disclaimer people have gotten all too familiar with popped up on the bottom of the screen: “Sama can make mistakes. Consider checking important information.”

My computer placed me in a virtual version of an airport, so people can mentally spend even more time in what has to be one of the most universally abhorred places to spend time in real life.

Sama showed up in the middle of the screen briefly, but then disappeared and a large black box took over the middle. The chat on the bottom had two suggested questions: “What are the frequent flier membership benefits of Qatar Airways?” and “How do I get to know terms and conditions for promo code?” Notoriously two of the first questions travelers have when trying to book a flight.

I asked the chat bot instead what the most affordable flights I can take in business class are. To that question, I was left on the “…” of a computer trying to process a request it has no answer to. It felt like an unsure situation, similar to waiting for human help in a grocery store’s self-checkout lane when the screen keeps telling you to put an item in the bagging area that’s already there.

I clicked into the business class check-in section of the virtual airport. Economy class was successfully hidden off to the side where I didn’t see it until I went back to look around the “airport” some more.

Finally, I found the option for booking flights on a dropdown menu in the corner. I put in the first two destinations on the list to see what would come up. After waiting for a new page to open and load in a different tab, I was hit with a no results found page.

“There are currently no flights matching your search. Please try different travel dates or itinerary. You can also discover our destinations and offers.”

Clicking the link to change the search didn’t go back to the QVerse that led me to no results. Instead, it went to the Qatar Airways homepage. The actual act of finding active routes, it turns out, is still up to the trial and error of the traveler.