There you are. You are stopped at a traffic light waiting for it to turn and you hear the hum of your phone notification. Google Maps is letting you know there is a delay ahead and offering to reroute you to save time. The light is still red and you drum your fingers on the steering wheel. Do you follow your tried-and-true route on your way to work…or do you listen to the data?
For many of us who have grown accustomed to the pings and nudges of data in our lives, the choice is easy. We have grown to trust the digital tools and apps, or maybe we have just given up resisting. We turn on our turning signal, we ease to the exit ramp, and abide by the data. After all, Google Maps and its family of digital navigators including Apple Maps, have invested tons of money and years into developing these tools. How could they possibly steer you wrong? Until you notice in your rear view, all the other cars have also signaled their turn to follow the same path as you. As the blinking lights flicker without ever quite syncing up as you would expect, it makes you pause. It reminds you we are all a little different – those blinking lights and us – and we can make our own choices.
How it Works
Google Maps works by keeping track of your location and everyone else around you using the Google app. It is estimated there are 1 billion global users of Google Maps. Every few minutes, more often during the daytime, Google gathers your latitude and longitude – where are on the globe – blends this with others and can make very good estimates of not only where you are, but whether you are in a car, riding a motorcycle or going for a run. The blend of this information anonymously with others is not only how it knows there is a traffic delay ahead, but it can also measure the estimated delay based on others moving through on the road ahead of you.
The Shortcut Paradox
What happens when there is a delay? Google Maps will search for alternative results that may save you some time. The paradox is when there is a shortcut to another route and others follow it, then it too becomes a bottleneck and slows down the trip for everyone. In simulations, it shows that adding shortcuts and alternative routes to existing roadways actually can make travel time for everyone slower. This is known as the Braess paradox and it has to do with how many people stay on the original road and how many take the alternate one. People tend to take shortcuts when they know they exist.
…suddenly we are the randomness
Ideally, Google would consider this too. There is a way to optimize, like sending every third driver off onto the detour and keeping others on the original road. Although there is lots of data there to do this, unfortunately, there is no evidence Google is making it easy. There is no optimization when the data suggests it could be better for all of us. Instead, we need to decide. As we stare at those blinking lights in our rearview mirror knowing others are considering following the detour, suddenly we are the randomness introduced into Google’s calculations. We are messing with the data.
It is fascinating how everything can be controlled and described by data and how much data really exists even for something as mundane as traffic. Those lights are all monitored and optimized with data to allow as much traffic to flow as possible. This is a good use of AI. The same technology that measures how many cars are on the road at a given intersection, is also used to count how many people are visiting your favorite restaurant right now (and yesterday, and the day before….). There are moments when I consider all of this and how wonderful it is to be in the data age, where AI and data-driven technologies are providing so many benefits for our lives….there are also days when I turn off my cell phone and drive away hoping I can actually just get lost for a moment and enjoy the adventure of finding my way home all by myself.
Data Duped 