Google has launched "Ask Maps," a new generative AI feature in its Maps app that functions like a conversational chatbot. It answers location-based questions and helps plan detailed itineraries, such as road trips with personalized stops, by leveraging user data for customization.
The feature is part of Google's broader strategy to integrate its Gemini AI across all products. It is initially available to mobile users in the U.S. and India, with a desktop version planned, and users cannot opt out of the feature.
Alongside this, Google is introducing an Immersive Navigation mode in the U.S., which provides drivers with a more visual 3D navigation display. These updates come as Google continues its push to add AI features ahead of its annual I/O developer conference.
Main Topics: Launch of Google's "Ask Maps" AI feature, its functionality and personalization, limited geographic rollout, integration into broader Gemini strategy, and the simultaneous introduction of Immersive Navigation mode.
There’s a new button in Google Maps: “Ask Maps.” Google started rolling out this new generative AI feature today, a conversational, in-app tool that combines data from Maps with a user experience similar to the company’s Gemini chatbot. It’s designed to answer questions about locations and schedule routes in the navigation app.
This is part of Google's overall strategy of adding Gemini to all its products. (Like that Portlandia sketch where the duo visits a boutique and puts bird decals on everything in sight.) Earlier this week, Google added Gemini-powered tools to its Workspace suite, including Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. And weeks before, it debuted a way for Gemini to take control of select apps to run tasks, like booking an Uber.
Ask Maps is first coming to Google Maps users in the US and India. This launch is limited to mobile devices, available on both Android and iOS, with a desktop version expected in the near future. You can’t opt out of Ask Maps or hide it, just like many of the new AI features from Google.
Ask Maps appears as the first tab under the search bar. When someone taps on it, Google provides personalized prompt suggestions. For example, someone living in San Francisco may be nudged to plan a drive out to Muir Woods, including a pit stop for breakfast burritos, or explore vintage store routes for shopping in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.
It’s designed to be utilized while planning road trips. In an example provided by Google, Ask Maps created a solid itinerary for a nature getaway traveling from the Grand Canyon to the nearby Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. The chatbot compiled a three-day driving plan with multiple lookout points and other popular stops marked along the route. Ask Maps ended this output with a few tips for enjoying time at the dunes: “Rent a sandboard at the visitor center and grab some wax—it’s key for speed.”
The conversational feature is an example of Google leveraging the data it stores about users to offer personalized experiences. If Ask Maps logs that you’re a vegetarian, it will reconfigure the restaurants included as part of the recommendations—no House of Prime Rib for a date night in the city. The Gemini chatbot can now search through your inbox and files to find answers, and it’s another example of Google’s increasing focus on AI-powered customization.
Alongside Ask Maps, Google is adding an Immersive Navigation mode to Google Maps. The new view changes the driver navigation to a more immersive display with 3D effects as well as highlighted lane markers and stop signs when helpful. It’s rolling out today in the US. Apple introduced a similar 3D City View a few years ago in select US cities for its own mapping app.
Years into the generative AI revolution, Google remains single-minded in its attempts to AI-ify all its software. The company’s annual developer conference, Google I/O, is scheduled for late May. As it approaches, expect Google to continue its steady drumbeat of Gemini integrations. After all, the company will be trotting out its first smart speaker developed for the generative AI era in mere weeks.
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