Bellingham — Whether you realize it or not, artificial intelligence is probably powering your phone’s navigation app. But what about public-facing generative AI tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity AI? Do they have features that can help you navigate traffic this summer?
Although they won’t replace your maps app completely, generative AI has plenty of uses for navigation. Here’s how you can use it to plan your summer road trip.
Do AI sites have any features beyond navigation apps?
Between navigation apps and highway signs, you probably don’t need ChatGPT to give you turn-by-turn directions to your destination. But do generative AI sites have features that go beyond what you can find on a standard map app?
According to a spokesperson for Perplexity, the site can be helpful for navigation since it can directly answer questions in a way that navigation apps can’t.
“Perplexity is most helpful for researching a general route or where to stop along the way,” the spokesperson said in an email to McClatchy. “For example, ‘What are the pros and cons of taking the freeway over the scenic route?’ ‘What interesting sites are along the way?’ ‘How much time should you dedicate to exploring a destination?’ ‘If I am going to a national or state park, what route has the best views?’”
While navigation apps often give you the option to avoid highways or toll roads, you can be more specific with an AI platform. You can ask it to find you a route that avoids mountain roads, or one that avoids construction, for example.
However, Perplexity still recommends using traditional navigation apps for up-to-date traffic information.
“For real-time information on route obstacles, we recommend referencing a navigation app or the website for your local transportation authority,” the spokesperson said.
More changes coming
One company working on incorporating generative AI into traffic solutions is Kirkland-based traffic data analytics company INRIX. The business recently was awarded a contract with California’s transit agency, Caltrans, to work on ways the state can use generative AI to improve transit.
According to INRIX Transportation Analyst Bob Pishue, while machine learning has been used to analyze traffic patterns for decades, the company is in the early stages of figuring out how generative AI can be used in the transportation sector.
“We’re really going to explore how AI can improve transportation on the ground on the regular,” Pishue said in a phone call with McClatchy.
“That’s like predicting how events will impact traffic, what roads are the most impacted, what type of suggestions does the program push out as solutions to detour people.”
Eventually, Pishue said, generative AI could be used to help cities optimize their traffic light and public transit schedules as well.
“When people sit at a traffic light, how is AI going to help them? Pishue said. “It could be switching signal timings [to], really adaptive signal timings to take into account special events. Something that may be normally hard-coded or set to adapt every few months, you may be able to adapt almost instantaneously, depending on the type of event going on, to route people around a major incident or something.”
Some of these uses could be public-facing, although Pishue said that’s still a ways away.
