Google has been predicting flight delays for a little while now, informing users of Google Flights of any change of plans.
But while Google Flights has proven itself to be a useful resource, a lot of people might want that information with their digital personal Assistant. Google announced on Monday that the Google Assistant can now handle handing off that information with just a simple request. Say something like, “Hey Google, is my flight on time?” and the digital personal assistant will let you know how things look.
Google uses a combination of historic flight data and machine learning to predict flight delays, and it is 85% confident in those predictions. That will be the same now, but the information can now be even more easily discoverable from Assistant and a simple voice query.
A big change is coming down the line, though. Google Assistant will soon be able to proactively let you know when a flight is predicted to be delayed. So instead of having to ask, the Assistant can send you a notification if the software has determined in the background if your flight is going to be delayed.
“And to make it easier to stay up-to-date on changes to your flight time, over the next few weeks the Assistant will begin proactively notifying you on your phone if we predict a flight delay and tell you the reason if we know it.”
As mentioned above, this particular feature will begin rolling out over the coming weeks, so it won’t be ready for this holiday’s frantic travel season, apparently. Still, better late than never, and the predictions will hopefully get even better in the future. The question, of course, is whether or not 85% confidence is good enough for the average traveler.
[via Google Blog]