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Google Maps is bringing Gemini’s AI chatbot to more features, including more “conversational” route planning and the use of landmarks and nearby business for navigation.
Google has slowly been adding AI to many of its products, including Maps, which last year got an updated version of Immersive View that allows users to ask questions about surrounding businesses and activities. Now the company is bringing AI into some of the core functions of Maps: route planning and navigation.
“We’ve often envisioned navigating with Maps as being your all-knowing copilot,” said Google Maps product director Amanda Moore in a briefing with reporters, “giving you exactly the information you need when you need it and taking the stress out of getting from A to B.”
Users can now ask Gemini open-ended questions from within Maps, either while driving or out walking. The system combines Maps’ geographical data with local insights about the surrounding community to provide answers about businesses or possible destinations.
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1 / 3 Image: Google
An example would be to ask Gemini for recommendations for certain restaurants along a specified route, and then to request that the route be altered to include directions to one of the recommended places. Users can also report hazards like vehicle crashes or get summaries of recent events, news, or emails during a commute. Gemini can be summoned either by saying “Hey Google” or tapping the Gemini icon in top-right corner of Google Maps.
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