Remember back at Google I/O earlier this year when Google demoed a feature called Duplex that intelligently placed calls on your behalf? Well, that robot personal assistant is about to come to a reality as Google gears up for its rollout. At the time, Google didn’t release its plan for Duplex but only focused on the…
Remember back at Google I/O earlier this year when Google demoed a feature called Duplex that intelligently placed calls on your behalf? Well, that robot personal assistant is about to come to a reality as Google gears up for its rollout.
At the time, Google didn’t release its plan for Duplex but only focused on the possible applications of the technology. One such use case was the bot calling a restaurant and automatically making a reservation. That’s about to change as it seems Duplex is ready for the prime time and will be making its debut on Pixel phones beginning next month.
Google emphasizes that Duplex is built to sound natural in an attempt to make the conversation seem more natural and not like you’re talking to a robot. This includes the bot correcting itself and phrases like “umm” since that’s how Google has concluded humans talk.
The Duplex technology won’t be standalone and will be folded into Google Assistant beginning next month but the rollout will be on a city-by-city basis. The first areas to see Duplex integration includes New York, Atlanta, Phoenix, and the San Francisco Bay Area with Google stating more areas will follow later.
Unsurprisingly, businesses will have the option of opting out of Duplex as the bot will announce it is a bot at the beginning of the call. Google thinks businesses will embrace Duplex but I guess that all depends on how well the technology works.
