Generative AI will soon arrive in Google Maps. New functions based on artificial intelligence will help you find places suited to your tastes and needs. A real pocket travel guide!
For a while now, Google Maps has aimed to become much more than a simple mapping application. Also, the platform is multiplying the addition of functions to become a real travel guide that fits in your pocket. And for that, it can, of course, count on artificial intelligence, which the Mountain View firm adds to all its services and products. In a blog post published on 1er February 2024, it announces that Maps will acquire a “new tool for discovering the surroundings”, powered by generative AI. Concretely, you will soon be able to converse with Google Maps in a natural language, in order to submit a specific request. Indeed, the application will use Google’s Large Language Model (LLM) to analyze information from more than 250 million registered places and 300 million reviews posted by its community to suggest places to visit according to your preferences. desires and the context of the moment.
Google Maps: a real pocket travel guide
With the arrival of this function, Google Maps will be able to understand natural language and make appropriate recommendations. Thus, you will be able to carry out a search in natural language in order to ask, for example, “places with a vintage spirit”. The results will then be sorted by category, with a list of thrift stores or vinyl stores. The AI will also be able to adapt to the context of your query. Is it starting to rain? Ask Google Maps “what activities are recommended around me for a rainy day”, and it will tell you which cinemas or theaters are nearby. Do you want to go for a walk in good weather? Ask him “places to visit outdoors in the surrounding area” to direct you to the nearest park.
Better yet, the application will be able to remember what you have previously told it, in order to provide you with the most precise and relevant answers possible. You will then be able to make an additional request such as: “What about the children?” The application will then offer you places to play indoor games and sports. The results will be organized into categories, and you will be presented with photo carousels and summaries of reviews of its places. You can of course save the location of these places and share them with your contacts.
Initially, this AI-powered function will be reserved for a restricted group of particularly active users – called local guides – in the United States. We do not have any deployment date for France. However, as Google has just launched its Gemini assistant in France, AI functions in Google Maps shouldn’t take too long!