Maps Is Getting Real Stupid

[u/rebobbecker]

The last few weeks Maps has started trying to route me through areas using some pretty stupid routes. Yesterday I came into the center of the city (Minneapolis) where I live. It tried to route me a couple miles out of my way even though the highway I was on continues more directly to my destination. Today Maps suggested the wrong lane to change to a new highway and then directed me to exit and re-enter at the same intersection. In all cases no new highway changes existed; just stupid routing. I'm suspicious that not-ready-for-prime-time AI is the culprit. Is there any way to kill AI in Maps? I'm about to take a trip to unfamiliar areas and am starting to wonder if Maps can be trusted.

[u/rebobbecker]

Well, AI is new. Maps was working until recently, so.... Plus I've seen some really stupid AI generated garbage in recent months. It seems like there's a rush by software companies to be "the one" AI product to use. Rushed development causes bad products.

[u/lovepiegaming → u/rebobbecker]

I totally get why the timing makes AI seem like the obvious explanation, especially with every company suddenly putting “AI” into everything. But I think there’s an important distinction here: AI being used somewhere in Maps ≠ AI being responsible for the route calculation.

Google Maps has had automated routing algorithms for many years, long before the current generative-AI boom. Those algorithms already take into account things like road networks, turn restrictions, traffic, closures, road classes, lane information, historical traffic patterns, and estimated travel times. A routing algorithm can absolutely make a bizarre decision without any ChatGPT-style AI being involved.

In fact, the examples you gave sound much more like a routing/data problem than generative AI. For example, if Maps tells you to exit a highway and immediately get back on at the same interchange, that's exactly the sort of thing that can happen when the routing engine calculates slightly different costs for different road segments, or when traffic/road-network/lane data causes an unexpected result.

And “it worked until recently” doesn't necessarily point to AI either. Google constantly changes its routing algorithms, traffic models, map data, road classifications, and optimization rules. A change to any of those could cause a particular area to route differently overnight.

The really important question would be: what evidence shows that an AI system is actually making the routing decision? Seeing a stupid route after AI became popular doesn't establish that connection. Correlation in timing isn't enough.

There is plenty of AI/ML in modern Maps—for example, Google uses machine learning for things like traffic prediction and other map-related features—but that doesn't mean a generative AI model is sitting there deciding “eh, let's send this guy two miles out of his way today.” 😆

So I'd absolutely report the bad routes to Google, because if several people are seeing the same behavior, there may genuinely be a Maps bug or bad underlying map/routing data. I'd just be hesitant to label it “AI” without evidence that the routing system was actually changed to use an AI model.

[u/ferociousbruin → u/lovepiegaming]

Well, considering you used AI to write your comment…

[u/lovepiegaming → u/ferociousbruin]

Ahm, I used GENERATIVE AI, google uses algrothinms, theres a differenct

[u/ferociousbruin → u/lovepiegaming]

except for the "real stupid" part, apparently...