22 October 2024 Jarosław Juszkiewicz in navigation Google Maps replaced by a robot. Instead of a popular narrator, drivers hear a voice generated by artificial intelligence. However, the lecturer did not remain unemployed for long. On Monday (October 28), Orlen announced the employment of Jarosław Juszkiewicz.
A former Google Maps reader found a job in Orlen. We know what he will do
– He accompanied us on the journey by car for fifteen years. Sometimes he would test us astray, direct us south, even though no one knew where the hell south was. Can't you imagine not having this voice? We do the same, which is why we want his voice to accompany us for the next millions of kilometers. We are honored to announce that Jarosław Juszkiewicz has agreed to start cooperation with us. In the era of AI, let's be guided by our heart and intuition – says Lida Kołucka, sponsoring director, in a special recording.
Jarosław Juszkiewicz is to support “social and promotional projects” in the company. – The brand offered me cooperation and I accepted it with pleasure – the narrator tells us. Details regarding cooperation and the exact actions in which Jarosław Juszkiewicz will take part are secret for now.
Orlen was not the only one, as he says in the voiceover. – There were a lot of inquiries – says Jarosław Juszkiewicz. Two radio stations were also supposed to apply for the voiceover, but these offers were rejected. Jarosław Juszkiewicz is the co-author of the “Rzecz Technologiczna” program and documentary podcasts on Radio 357.
Jarosław Juszkiewicz replaced by AI again. But this time it's permanent
This is not the first time that Juszkiewicz stopped being a voice Google Maps. It was last canceled in 2020, but after numerous voices of regret about this change, the voice-over was reinstated.
– When I saw that 99.7 percent of the comments on my farewell video on YouTube were positive, it made me think that for some people I was more than just a voice on a smartphone. I realized that I was a fellow traveler as they traveled alone. Someone they could talk to in a strange way, but still. And maybe that's why they reacted so emotionally to the news that I will no longer be the voice of Google navigation. Because they got used to me. I was the person who always waited for them in the car – the lecturer said in an interview with Gazeta.pl.
At that time, Google explained that it had decided to replace the narrator with a synthetic voice to increase the accuracy of messages. The information on where to turn was to be less general and refer to prominent points on the route. For example, instead of “turn behind 300 meters”, we can hear “turn behind the church”.