Google Gemini helped a Kerala man track down a friend after 31 years

Determined to repay an old friend, Mohammed Ismail turned to Google Maps and Google Gemini AI to track down the whereabouts of Edla Lachanna, a former colleague he had lost touch with 31 years ago, according to a report by New Indian Express.

Ismail and Lachanna had worked together at a construction company in Saudi Arabia in the early 1990s, where Ismail borrowed 3,000 Saudi Riyals from Lachanna during a period of financial hardship. Both men returned to their hometowns soon after and lost contact.

Remembering only that Lachanna hailed from Dharmapuri in Jagtial district, Telangana, Ismail travelled over 1,200 km from Palakkad, Kerala, via Hyderabad, using the two tools to eventually locate Lachanna’s house. He found that Lachanna was still working in Saudi Arabia, and Lachanna’s family connected the two men over a WhatsApp video call, where Lachanna instantly recognised his old colleague.

Ismail then transferred Rs 25,000 — an amount he considered equivalent to the borrowed sum — to Lachanna’s family via PhonePe.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/by Santeri Viinamaki