Google has been trying to have its AI assistant make phone calls on your behalf for almost 10 years. Remember Duplex? It enabled the now-defunct Google Assistant to call restaurants and book tables. That service was shuttered a few years ago, but now comes round two, powered by modern large language models.

On Thursday, Google announced Call for Me, an experimental beta feature exclusive to its latest Pixel 11 smartphones in the US (and in English). Pixel 11 owners need a Gemini subscription and have to be enrolled in the Phone by Google app’s public beta. Google has instructions on how to participate here.

These calls are designed to reach businesses. Gemini can call your local hardware store to ask if they stock a specific tool, or chat with a barber to schedule a haircut. Just tell Gemini to make the call—it may ask you follow-up questions for more context—and the chatbot will introduce itself and can have a back-and-forth conversation to ensure your request is handled. If it runs into an automated phone menu, it can navigate it and even wait on hold. On your end, you can view a live transcript on the Pixel and take over at any point.

Google says it works best with businesses, but there are some establishments Gemini won't call, like emergency services. That said, you can ask Gemini to call specific numbers. For example, if your tattoo artist doesn't have much of a web presence, “Gemini will try to search for a phone number, but you may provide one as well,” a Google spokesperson tells WIRED.

Source link