Google Maps will rely more heavily on artificial intelligence (AI) to help users figure out where they want to go and the best way to get there, as part of a major redesign unveiled Thursday.
The overhaul powered by Google’s Gemini technology will introduce two AI features to a digital mapping service used by more than 2 billion people around the world.
A tool called Ask Maps will expand on the conversational capabilities that Google introduced to the service last November, offering suggestions to users looking for things like nearby places to charge their devices, coffee shops with short lines or a detailed itinerary for a road trip that includes several stops and excursions.
Gemini’s recommendations will be based on a database of more than 300 million places and opinions from more than 500 million contributors that have been accumulated since the debut of Google Maps more than 20 years ago. Google officials declined to answer a question about whether the company plans to sell ads to increase the chances of businesses appearing in Ask Maps recommendations. Ask Maps will initially be available on the Google Maps mobile app for iPhones and Android software in the United States and India, before expanding to personal computers and other countries.
In what Google executives consider the biggest change to map driving directions, Gemini has also created a new tool called Immersive Navigation that features a three-dimensional perspective designed to give users a better understanding of where they are at any given moment. The 3D representations created by Gemini will include landmarks such as notable buildings, highway medians and other aspects of the terrain that drivers see around them while driving to help them orient themselves more quickly.
Google believes its AI guardrails are now strong enough to prevent the Gemini technology underlying “Immersive Navigation” from creating fake places to go, a flaw known in the industry as “hallucination.”
Immersive Navigation is also supposed to help Google Maps more clearly explain the pros and cons of different driving routes for the same recommendation, as well as pinpoint the best parking spots once the user reaches a designated destination. The new AI-powered navigation will initially only be available in the United States, in the Google Maps mobile application for iPhone and Android, as well as in cars equipped with options to activate CarPlay and Android Auto.
This story was translated from English to Spanish with an artificial intelligence tool and was reviewed by an editor before publication.