Google tests Gemini AI’s ability to call businesses for users

Google on Thursday, September 24, announced a new feature that lets users have its Gemini AI assistant call real-world businesses. With the newly launched ‘Call for Me’ feature, users can direct Gemini to directly call a store to ask if a product is in stock, call a restaurant to make a reservation, call a doctor’s office to schedule an appointment, etc.

However, the feature is still in the experimental phase and has only been rolled out to Pixel 11 owners with a Gemini subscription in the United States. It also requires eligible users to download the beta version of Google’s Phone app for Android. Gemini will further be able to share personal information of the user with the caller pending approval.

Additionally, users can monitor the calls via a live transcript of the conversation and can take over at any time, as per the company. As part of the feature, the AI assistant will use a user’s own personal phone number to make the call and it will be dialed directly from their phone by Gemini.

Once the person or bot on the other hand of the call answers the phone, Gemini will introduce itself. It is also capable of navigating automated phone menus and wait on hold. The Gemini update comes at a time when smartphones are evolving from app-centric devices into AI agent-centric platforms that understand a user’s intent and context and can handle tasks on their own.

AI agents like Meta’s Muse and Instinct are also capable of making calls on users’ behalf. While Google has rolled out several AI-powered calling features in the past few years, they were limited in what they could do. According to Google, the feature is rolling out as an experiment at a small scale because “real-world conversations are nuanced,” and it needs time to get the feature right before rolling it out more broadly.

Other Gemini AI calling features Prior to the launch of Call for Me, Google has experimented with several AI-assisted, automated calling features. Several years ago, the company, at its annual I/O developer conference, demoed a Google Assistant feature that saw the AI agent call a salon to make a reservation.

The audience seemed to be especially vowed by the natural sounding conversation complete with “umm’s” and “ahh’s” from the AI agent. Also Read | Gemini hacked three companies in first known breakout by Google’s AI Last year, Google rolled out ‘Ask for Me’, a feature that let Gemini call businesses on users’ behalf to inquire about things like pricing or services.

Other features for Pixel smartphone owners include ‘Hold for Me’ or ‘Talk to a Live Rep’, which can navigate phone trees, then automatically wait on hold until a real person comes to the line. ‘Direct My Call’ can further display the numbers to navigate IVR systems.