Gemini AI Invades Google Maps with Mandatory New Tab

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.

Apple introduced a similar 3D City View a few years ago in select US cities for its own mapping app.