Gemini is rolling out to Maps on Android and iOS, with Android Auto coming soon.
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So long, Assistant—Gemini is taking over Google Maps
- Thread starter JournalBot
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My use of Google Maps is to fire it up in a browser session on my desktop to find routes and places to eat. If the route is complicated, print out a paper copy of both map and the suggested route. Confirm by switching to satellite view and verifying that the roads really exist. More then once a look at real pictures made me question the suggested route. Not always hallucinations. Sometimes the photography is newer then the data from google mapping vehicles running the roads. Picked up a Garmin Nuvi for $1 at a Hab store and one $30 battery later have a no spying navigation aid.
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I'm old enough to remember when new technology was promising us that the future would look like Star Trek. Flat panel touch displays, portable data pads, wearable communicators, etc.
For some reason, IT companies think that what we really want is a replicant dominatrix to control our computer use and tell us what to do. Like, do these companies literally need to go back to holding meetings at strip clubs for us to get the message that our entire economy is being held hostage to the adolescent fantasies of a bunch of lost boys who never grew up?
For some reason, IT companies think that what we really want is a replicant dominatrix to control our computer use and tell us what to do. Like, do these companies literally need to go back to holding meetings at strip clubs for us to get the message that our entire economy is being held hostage to the adolescent fantasies of a bunch of lost boys who never grew up?
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You reminded me good old days when I had WinCE GPS thingie with Automapa on it (Polish map, had coverage of most of Europe). It was glorious, had funky voices (including famous Polish racing driver) and was super reliable. But even it had it's moments - I'll never forget that time, when it told me to go through back roads, and all of sudden nice and straight road with two wide lanes run out of tarmac. Heaps of fun at 80 per hour.
These were the times...
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Gemini rolling out to all Google products is reminiscent of what they did with Google Plus. How well did that work out?
How soon until we see Gemini direct a self-driving car onto a hallucinated bridge?
How soon until we see Gemini direct a self-driving car onto a hallucinated bridge?
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Thank fuck. It seems like Gemini is only being incorporated into the parts of Google Maps I don't use: Assistant and Lens.
This would be annoying, but honestly I've already turned off audio-readouts anyway (personal preference and being annoyed at it getting in the way of music every 10 seconds. I also have a dashboard phone-mount that's a lot closer to the road in my vision than the center console.)
Funny enough, I'm better at gauging distances in meters than I am in feet. It's an awkward unit of length that's a little too small for me to reasonably break down distances into, and I don't have a good frame of reference for 10-feet or 100-feet.
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The new car came with Apple CarPlay so I tried Apple, Google and Waze. The last one was our favorite.
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I get the skepticism regarding LLM AI. But I think this is a pretty good use case. It sounds like Gemini is being used communicate information from/to the underlying maps programming. Acting as translational layer is exactly where I'd expect LLMs to shine.
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The part I bolded made me wonder if it was Robert Kubica, and for some reason now I have this mental image of how Google Assistant will work:
As it detects that you are driving 5 mph under the speed limit in the left lane, you'll hear Fernando Alonso come on your car's speakers shouting "defend...like a LION!"
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"Currently, Google Maps and other navigation systems use vague instructions like “turn in 500 feet.” However, these announcements often arrive far too late to be useful, and can people accurately gauge 500 feet while driving?" For years now, Apple Maps has said things like "Go past this light, then at the next one turn right", or "Go past this road, then turn into the parking lot." Far easier for most of us to follow.
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I've found that usually translates into "the next junction."Ryan Whitwam said:
Currently, Apple Maps use instructions like "turn right at the next stop sign."
Oh, they've had that feature for ages.
https://meincmagazine.com/tech-policy...ogle-maps-directed-him-over-collapsed-bridge/
Submitters: The bridge is out!
Maps:
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Ugh. Assistant was fine. I tried having my phone text someone recently while I was driving and instead of asking what I wanted to text them, it made a guess at what it should send. It created a text asking if the person that I wanted to text wanted to meet up at 7:30 at the pub. Definitely not what I needed to text and definitely not appropriate for my relationship to the person.
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You can try Gemini Live and see for yourself, says it supports 45 languages: https://gemini.google/overview/gemini-live/
Assistant was/is garbage from 12 years ago and never really improved, so it'll probably be a big step up. As always, speech recognition performs best if you speak in your native language with as little accent as possible.
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Great, so it will be like grandpa giving you directions, only more inaccurate. "Go until you see the 2nd light and turn left at the George Washington statue and then look for the 3rd brown awning and turn right...". Sounds totally awesome.
Who's asking for these "enhancements?"
Who's asking for these "enhancements?"
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No love here for Waze? Yes, I know it's owned by Google, but it's still best at actually beating traffic. Google Maps is for finding restaurants and parking spots.
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The executive suite, which is filled with people desperate to justify their billion dollar investments into AI.
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I actually have a lot of trouble judging distances; signs and landmarks are much more useful to me. I have my doubts that Gemini will be reliable enough to be an improvement, though.
Edit: The best directions for me would probably be more like "take the third right" rather than "turn right at the gas station", though.
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So funny to see everyone on Ars just kneejerk everything AI all the time. Like, the shit isn't going away. Acting like there's 0 utility for it is just wrong.
Of course no need to RTFA - just comment that it's going to make up directions.
The best use of LLM is taking in conversational/unfiltered/confusing text or speech and making heads or tails of it. If this helps me set my route by just saying "no, these all suck - make my route go through North Adams, but avoid main street" and passing that to the underlying system, instead of trying to fight with the stupid little pins and the horrible way of customizing a route, I'm for it.
AI as a middleware layer and interface between human language and complicated computer systems seems like the perfect use for an AI agent, especially if they are smart enough to put limits and validation on the other systems to keep the hallucination shit to a minimum.
Of course no need to RTFA - just comment that it's going to make up directions.
The best use of LLM is taking in conversational/unfiltered/confusing text or speech and making heads or tails of it. If this helps me set my route by just saying "no, these all suck - make my route go through North Adams, but avoid main street" and passing that to the underlying system, instead of trying to fight with the stupid little pins and the horrible way of customizing a route, I'm for it.
AI as a middleware layer and interface between human language and complicated computer systems seems like the perfect use for an AI agent, especially if they are smart enough to put limits and validation on the other systems to keep the hallucination shit to a minimum.
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The landmark-based navigation actually sounds like a godsend for me. I have zero ability to measure distance in my head, so when it says "half a mile" I have no idea what that means, and have to look at the map. I also agree with the idea that it gives instructions too late at times; telling me to take an exit on the right 1 mile ahead on a six-lane highway is often simply not enough notice if I'm in the left lane.
I just wish I could disable its annoying traffic update warnings. I just want it to tell me instructions. I can turn off audio instructions, but not alerts. WHY????? Telling me that there's traffic ahead is pointless. It doesn't enable me to do anything about it, and I can see in front of me. But for some reason, there is no way to silence or disable alerts without also disabling audio instructions.
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"Instead of only using distances for turns, Gemini might use a gas station, restaurant, or recognizable sign to help you find your turn."
Not quite a new feature and is one of the reasons I stopped using Google Maps. On paper it's a good idea: "turn left at Popeye's Chicken" and you see the Popeye's sign and turn left. But when that feature appeared in Google Maps a few years ago, it slightly changed the directions to my grocery store... not dramatically, just a couple blocks, but it felt odd and I couldn't shake the suspicion that it was sending me that way to announce Popeye's Chicken as a landmark to satisfy an advertising commitment.
Not quite a new feature and is one of the reasons I stopped using Google Maps. On paper it's a good idea: "turn left at Popeye's Chicken" and you see the Popeye's sign and turn left. But when that feature appeared in Google Maps a few years ago, it slightly changed the directions to my grocery store... not dramatically, just a couple blocks, but it felt odd and I couldn't shake the suspicion that it was sending me that way to announce Popeye's Chicken as a landmark to satisfy an advertising commitment.
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Exactly. I'm glad other people here don't have that problem, but I can count the number of times I've measured a distance in actual units on my fingers, so I have very little reference for how far "10 ft" is.
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ReadandShare
Ars Centurion
Nah... instead, remember that vegan restaurant you asked for? Gemini will simply serve up the 'most relevant' recommendation to you, and Alphabet will profit that way!
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I recently had an issue with Google trying to send me down a mall road that hasn't existed for about 3 years at this point. No matter how else I tried to go around, it simply would not give me instructions that didn't use that road, even after I left the formerly attached lot altogether.
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ReadandShare
Ars Centurion
You are right, but it's no different from Google Maps today! No guarantees of anything either.
And traveling for a couple of months now, I rely on it every day - and am about 90% happy.
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"In 500 meters turn left at the Starbucks- new pumpkin spice lattes on sale now!"
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Google's Gemini permeation has been like watching a camouflaged sloth walking a forest floor. You're never sure what is Gemini and what isn't. You know it wants to go upward eventually, but most evidence show it slithering along the ground. Nobody knows where it is going, and apathy will probably overpower curiosity before you find out.
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Much better to get directions from the locals. "Ya go down thataway past the old Jenkins place that burned down in ought-six, then take the first right after that, and it's on your left by where the tree that fell in that storm a few years ago was. Ya can't miss it!"
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How do you speak "with as little accent as possible"? I was born & brought up in the UK South East area therefore I, of course, do not have an 'accent'! However I have been to and met Glaswegians who are quite convinced that they have also have no accent, it is just me speaking 'posh'!
I use Glasgow as an example as it is one of the more distinctive accents in the UK.
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Man, talk about beating a dead horse. Literally no one I know converses with this tech. It isn't happening. STOP.
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Rural Gemini Maps: “Turn left down there where the old gas station used to be, then keep going until you go a stretch past Smitty’s place where those hogs got loose that time. You’ll see your destination soon — can’t miss it!”
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Scone Muncher
Ars Centurion
I'm pretty vanilla, but—I'd like to know more about this replicant dominatrix.
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While in general I prefer Google Maps, Apple Maps usually has more user friendly instructions like "Stay in the right lane, but don't take this exit" or "Turn left at the next traffic light"
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https://organicmaps.app/
Uses OpenStreetMap data. Surprisingly good for an open-source project without major backing.
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As I mentioned in another comment: https://organicmaps.app/
Not perfect but also totally in your control
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