Featured Image Credit: Witthaya Prasongsin / NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty
Google is one of many massive tech firms fully embracing AI right now, and now Google Maps is getting an artificial intelligence upgrade.
The ubiquitous navigational tool is getting a new update that adds some cool features, including AI insights that should make browsing entries more informative.
Google says that when you tap on something like a restaurant, it's now going to use AI to help you figure out what you're looking at as you scroll through user photos and reviews.
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This means that if there are a lot of images of one dish in particular, Google might now supply a little caption to let you know what that dish is - which could come in useful if you're in a new city with slightly unfamiliar cuisine.
From the images that Google has released showing off the feature, it doesn't look like an AI model will guess completely what it's looking at - rather, it'll pair phrases from the reviewer's text with the image.
So, for example, if they talked about a really great cheeseburger, and also uploaded an image of it, the cheeseburger photo will now feature a snippet of text to identify it. Obviously, that'd be a lot more helpful for a more obscure dish than, well, a cheeseburger.
That's a nice tweak that should really help if you're looking to order a dish that you've seen a mouthwatering image of without knowing quite what it is.
It's not all that's changing, though, with Google Maps also giving an update to lists.
For ages, you've been able to build a list of places you want to visit, or places that someone else should check out.
These are really useful for sharing ideas or itineraries, and Google is aiming to make it easier to find helpful lists in your area in Google Maps.
Rolling out first city-by-city to 40 locations in the US and Canada, it's adding new options when people are checking out cities on maps - there will be a Trending list, a Top list and a Gems list.
The Trending list will showcase places that are seeing spikes in their popularity on Maps, as a useful way to see what's up-and-coming near you.
The Top list will be long-term favourites that have seen consistently excellent reviews and plenty of visitors.
Finally, the Gems list sounds like the most interesting and enticing of the lot - it'll show well-kept secrets in neighborhoods, showcasing potentially great options that are flying under the radar for now.
All in all, it sounds like a great set of new tools to find new spots in cities you either know like the back of your hand or have never visited before.
