Google Chrome will soon call your barbers to book you a haircut – and ring restaurants for you too
BOOKING a table for your next hot date will soon get a lot easier with a new Google tool. The firm’s divisive “robot caller” Duplex, which can call up your doctor or local caff using a creepy human-like voice, is coming to Google Chrome. Duplex is designed to make booking appointments easier by allowing an […]
BOOKING a table for your next hot date will soon get a lot easier with a new Google tool.
The firm’s divisive “robot caller” Duplex, which can call up your doctor or local caff using a creepy human-like voice, is coming to Google Chrome.
Duplex is designed to make booking appointments easier by allowing an AI assistant to do them for you – and it’s come with its fair share of controversy.
The creepy tech was blasted as “horrifying” and “deceptive” last year after a tech demo showed it was so convincing that call recipients didn’t realise they were nattering with a robot.
Now Google has announced the tech, which is still in development, is coming to Google Chrome on Android.
The feature will be available to US and UK customers starting later this year.
The tech was shown in action during a demo at Google’s I/O conference in California this week – a year on from its controversial unveiling.
Google boss Sundar Pichai said Duplex will be able to dial people’s phones, rent them a car or buy them movie tickets online.
Renting a car via the Android Chrome app will be as simple as saying, “Hey Google, book a car with national for my next trip.”
Google Assistant will then automatically fill in your details on the National Car Rental website and plug in basic information about your trip.
It’ll offer you vehicle class options and plug all the boring stuff into the site’s rental forms.
Google says users will still have the final say over reservations, with several confirmation prompts ensuring this is really what you want.
Duplex is an AI-driven assistant feature that can make all the awkward phone calls you don’t want to and can even book you a restaurant reservation with a fairly realistic human voice.
The service is already available to Android and iPhone owners in 43 US states after it initially launched on Pixel devices in December 2018.
As well as car rentals, the service is designed to book restaurant tables, doctor’s appointments and slots at your local barbers for you.
Users simply have to activate the assistant and specify what phone call they would like it to make.
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What do you think of Duplex? Let us know in the comments!
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