Implanting AI engine Amap's future goal is to create a living map

At the Yunqi Conference in August this year, Alibaba executives said that AI will become Alibaba's development focus in the next few years.

Compared with the hard work of Internet companies such as Google, Facebook, and Baidu in promoting AI, Alibaba started its AI technology relatively late and kept a low profile. Alibaba’s AI products are more likely to be positioned as cloud service products. A month later, the AI ​​technology developed in secret was first implemented on Alibaba’s AutoNavi Maps, announcing the release of the AutoNavi Maps AI Engine.

Last October, Yu Yongfu, President of Alibaba Mobile Business Group and AutoNavi President, revealed the "One AutoNavi, One Cloud, Multiple Screens" strategy in an internal letter, announcing that AutoNavi would make the largest R&D investment in history on an integrated engine. It is understood that the AI ​​engine released this time is an important result of this round of R&D investment.

AI engine upgrades three capabilities to bring maps to life

The forms of connected terminals are becoming more diverse, and location travel big data is becoming more massive. The personalized needs of users and the customized needs of developers are putting forward higher requirements for location travel services. Tian Mi, Vice President of Technology at AutoNavi Maps, pointed out: "At present, the development of the Internet world is facing the development trend of everything being connected to the Internet, data everywhere, and different needs." Therefore, maps, as the basic infrastructure of the Internet, need to be supported by more powerful and intelligent engines.

Amap has developed an AI engine that has significantly improved map services in three aspects: global capabilities, big data capabilities, and personalization capabilities, making the once mindless maps completely intelligent.

Global capability refers to the ability of the AI ​​engine to adapt to various complex application environments. Amap's AI engine can not only provide unified services on different devices, with different hardware conditions, and in different environments, but also automatically select a local engine or a network engine for the user based on the user's usage scenario and network conditions. For example, the user can plan a route on a web page or mobile phone, send it to the car computer with one click, drive to the parking lot, and then return to the phone to continue walking or indoor navigation. The global capability of the AI ​​engine is the basis for Amap's "one cloud, multiple screens" and is also the guarantee for the smooth flow of data between different terminals.

In terms of data acquisition, Amap already has a systematic ecosystem, which consists of Alibaba Group, Amap itself, open platforms and third-party applications. At present, Amap's data processing has changed from manual to automated, and data operations have changed from manual planning to more flexible and efficient intelligent scheduling, thereby further improving service quality. For example, Amap obtains real-time traffic conditions and traffic event data from a variety of different sources, and the traffic condition update speed reaches the minute level. The dynamic navigation function that adjusts the route in real time according to traffic conditions and events during navigation is thus realized.

Finally, the ultimate goal of the AI ​​engine in terms of user experience is to provide personalized location-based travel services that are tailored to each user, so that each user can get the results they want. The user's basic attributes, the relationship between people and the land, driving habits, and consumption capacity and preferences derived from Alibaba's big data are all factors that are taken into account when Amap draws a user portrait.

"One Gaode, two centers" vows to distance itself from its competitors

AutoNavi, owned by Alibaba, has been making great strides in recent years. At present, AutoNavi is the only Internet map company that leads the market in both product and data. In terms of data, AutoNavi has comprehensive, accurate and effective map data obtained by relying on the latest collection technology, and enjoys a multi-source, systematic big data ecosystem.

At the same time, with the support of Alibaba Cloud Computing Platform, Amap has realized online processes and achieved rapid dynamic updates in a short period of time in the five links of data discovery, collection, production, compilation, and release, ensuring faster and more efficient data production. Amap has maintained a sustained high growth in users in the past two years and currently has more than 700 million users.

On this basis, AutoNavi Maps made a judgment that the two most important centers in the future travel and location information service field must be mobile phones and cars. "Cars are the next strategic stronghold of Internet maps after mobile phones. Whoever can first complete the integrated product service experience of mobile phones and car machines will be able to take the lead in this incremental market." Yu Yongfu once said in an internal letter, "The research and development of AutoNavi's integrated engine is the largest R&D project in the company's history, and it is also an important battle for us to distance ourselves from our competitors in the next three years."

Tian Mi said: "As a travel infrastructure, no matter how the front end and interaction change, whether it is providing guidance and services to people or machines, an intelligent map engine is the top priority." Since its establishment 14 years ago, Amap has been focusing on travel and location information services and is committed to making a good map. Based on the continuous enrichment of the big data system, Amap has organically integrated map data capabilities and Internet service capabilities to weave a living map.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.