Google Maps is introducing an AI-powered feature that will help you discover new places, the company was announced today.
Using large linguistic models (LLM), the new feature analyzes the more than 250 million locations on Google Maps and contributions from over 300 million Local Guides to generate recommendations based on what you’re looking for. For example, if you want to find great thrift stores in San Francisco, you can search for “vintage places in SF” and Maps will generate shopping suggestions organized by category, as well as “photo carousels and review summaries.” explains the company. The new feature is meant to feel more conversational than the usual search experience. If you ask a follow-up question like “How about lunch?” the AI will look at your previous interest in vintage and find restaurants that meet the criteria, such as an old-school restaurant.
The company says the feature should be able to generate recommendations for even the most specialized or specific query.
The early access experiment launches this week in the US and will be available to select Local Guides, the community of Google members who contribute reviews, facts and photos to Maps to help other users with detailed information about different locations. It will be available to other users in the near future. The company has yet to say which other countries will get the feature.
In October, Google updated Maps to look more like a search tool, introducing various AI-powered features like photo results and the ability to suggest specific places when you enter vague queries like “things to do.” The new AI creation feature looks to be the next step in Maps’ journey to become a destination for discovering new places instead of just using it for navigation.
“This is just the beginning of how we’re supercharging Maps with genetic AI,” Google wrote in today’s blog post.
