It should be fun to plan a trip. However, due to the many screenshots, overlooked tabs, and ceaseless hotel evaluations, it can rapidly devolve into a disorganized situation. Google aims to alter this situation. With its newest updates to Maps, Search, and Hotels, AI travel planning has become more seamless, personalized, and—dare we say it—stress-free.
Let’s begin with Google Maps. A new feature known as the “screenshot list” is being introduced for iOS users in the U.S. (with Android support coming soon). When activated, it employs Google’s Gemini AI to examine the screenshots on your device for textual references to place names. It can subsequently map those locations and allow you to save them in a list that can be shared.
This should reduce the ease with which you can lose track of cool restaurants or must-see landmarks buried deep in your camera roll. The drawback, however, is that the AI system depends on visible text rather than image recognition. Consequently, that image of a handwritten note could still become overlooked. Nonetheless, it might assist in simplifying AI travel planning a little over time.
In the meantime, Search is receiving a significant enhancement for creating personalized itineraries. Now, you can enter prompts such as “organize a family trip to New York City centered on food and museums,” and Google’s AI will produce a comprehensive itinerary that includes maps, user reviews, photos, and recommended activities. After that, you can save those ideas to Maps or share them via Gmail or Docs.
The results of hotel searches will now feature a toggle that allows you to keep track of price reductions for your chosen dates and filters—be it beachfront views or a five-star resort. With alerts sent directly to your inbox, you should be able to grab the best deals without having to refresh tabs all the time. Finally, The Verge reports that Google intends to introduce multilingual support for AI Overviews in Google Lens, with six additional languages—Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese among them—coming soon.
With these updates, Google has made significant strides in AI travel planning, bringing the experience closer to being effortless for you. This is merely the most recent effort by Google to integrate Gemini into Maps, and it’s probable that we will see additional features released in the coming months.
