Making travel plans may get easier with Google. The company is rolling out a new AI-powered feature that can create custom travel itineraries, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday.
The new feature is part of Search Generative Experience (SGE), an experimental version of Google search that uses AI to answer questions for you instantly. To enable SGE, you have to sign up for Search Labs.
For example, in search, you can ask Google to plan a three-day trip to Philadelphia that focuses on history, and it’ll instantly create it for you. Google says the AI will leverage data from sites across the web, including reviews, photos and business profiles that have been submitted to Google by users over the years. It’ll also be possible to export your itinerary to Gmail, Docs or Maps.
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AI-generated travel itineraries are currently only available in English and in the US. It is possible, though, to ask Google Gemini, the company’s AI-powered chatbot meant to compete with ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, to do the same in a language like Spanish.
The launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 kickstarted a shift toward AI in the tech industry, with major companies investing billions into the technology. Generative AI takes in billions of data points and synthesizes them to create novel text, pictures and even realistic video. This past year, Google has been cramming AI in all of its core products, from Gmail to Pixel, its line of phones.
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It’ll likely be a key talking point at Google I/O in May, the search giant’s annual developers conference, where it shows off its latest tech. Google’s lead in AI technology helped propel the company to near-record highs earlier this year. The excitement cooled somewhat last month after Gemini generated images of historical figures inaccurately as people of color.
Circle to Search, a relatively new feature available for the Samsung Galaxy S24 and some Pixel devices, will soon be able to use AI to translate text on your screen just by circling it.
Google Maps is also getting a non-AI travel update within the US and Canada. In Maps, when you type in major cities like Los Angeles and New York, it’ll give you lists of recommendations and top-trending places. You’ll also be able to create a list of places in Maps to help organize your top favorites.
Another non-AI update in Search introduces a new personalized style recommendation tool that works a bit like Tinder, but for clothes. You can swipe left or right on T-shirts so that Google can better recommend fits to buy.
