Google has always been known for making the job of gathering correct information easier for users. It has been using advanced technologies for benefitting people using the world wide web for a long time. This time, the search engine giant has shared how it is using artificial intelligence for updating business hours on Google Maps.
In a recent post published on the company’s official blog, Google informed the audience that if it’s confident that the predictions made by artificial intelligence regarding the business hours of a company or service provider are correct, it will go ahead and update the info in Maps.
Google has outlined several factors analyzed by its AI for finding out whether it would be the right decision to make these updates. It begins by checking when the profile of the given company/service provider was last updated, Popular Times data, and business hours of similar shops to determine whether it’s possible that the current hours mentioned on Maps are incorrect.
Let’s explain with an example. If the search engine biggie finds out that many visitors are arriving at a particular shop when it’s apparently closed, it might take the decision of updating the hours based on that finding.
In the post, Google made it clear that artificial intelligence needs more data for determining whether the hours of a business need to be changed. AI checks the official website of the business for information regarding its opening hours. What’s more, it can even track street view images (to see whether they show any signs featuring business hours of the shop) for figuring out the exact opening hours of the business.
Google will also check with humans to get the info provided by AI confirmed. According to the search engine company, it will contact the business owners and Google Maps users to verify the predictions made by AI. The company stated that in certain countries, it might use Duplex for enquiring businesses about their respective opening hours directly.
According to Google spokeswoman Genevieve Park, the search engine biggie never publishes business hours if it is not confident enough that the information available is accurate. Whenever AI feels that the business hours might be wrong but lacks a strong prediction, Google notifies the users by saying, “The hours might have changed.”
Google refrains from explicitly telling the users when its AI has last updated the hours. However, it uses AI for almost everything on Google Maps. Right now, the company is planning to use AI to update the opening hours of more than twenty million businesses located in different parts of the world over the coming six months.