Google's new AI-generated Talking Tours sound like the future of free guided city walks

Google has unveiled an experimental travel feature called Talking Tours
It offers AI-generated commentary on more than 50 locations
You can try it out on the Google Arts & Culture app or website

Googling made it pretty clear with his recent one Google Maps upgrades that it wants to be your virtual tour guide – and a new Talking Tours experiment takes those ambitions to the next level.

Found in Google’s Arts & Culture app for iOS And Android (also possible try it online), the Talking Tours feature gives you AI-generated commentary on major attractions for 55 locations around the world.

But what feels like a glimpse into the future of walking tours is the ability to let you look around a 360-degree panorama, take a photo, and then have the AI give you information about what’s happening in the area.

Naturally, the audio guides are limited to major tourist locations such as the Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul. We tested it in one of three locations in London and it informed us well about the scene around the London Eye.

For this “initial experiment,” Google says it worked with a “small selection of partners and cultural sites,” and “more will be added in the future.” But its use of AI-generated audio means it has the potential to scale very quickly and become a useful free travel tool in the future – if Google doesn’t bring it to the Google Graveyard.

Just add AR glasses

Two phones on a green and blue background showing the Google Talking Tours feature in London

(Image credit: Google)

Our initial tests with Talking Tours show that it is currently nothing close to a replacement for a true city walking guide – and will probably never match the human touch or anecdotes of an experienced professional.

But it’s also a glimpse of the kind of free travel advice that isn’t far away. Combine a more advanced version of the AR-generated commentary with the smart glasses that the Google Play Store seems to be gearing up and you could have a very useful, free city trip assistant with knowledge of virtually everything you look at.

In our quick play, the Talking Tours’ knowledge of the London Eye was quite basic, but after we turned around to take a ‘photo’ (in Street View) of the river, the Talking Tours recognized the boat and inquired us about the benefits of riverboat cruises from the city.

Google has previously been involved in offering city guides such as Google Lens and Google Earth, but the combination of computer vision and AI-generated commentary means the feature is potentially much more scalable – and Talking Tours could be our first taste of that future.