Last year’s biggest news out of I/O, Google Duplex, came across as a bit of an afterthought this year, dodging concerns about the AI that can make human-like calls in your behalf by making it unable to speak at all on an upcoming version for the web. In an early demonstration, Google says Duplex can now pull in your information and navigate the web for you to book other things like car rentals and movie tickets. Instead of just confirming a booking for you, users can scan the auto-filled forms to approve what Duplex has written in before moving forward.
All of this was packed into a segment about how Google Assistant will just get smarter in general, helping users reply to messages, write emails (even subject lines), insert images in messages, or get directions to personalized results (mom’s house) by using just your voice. It’ll also be available in driving mode soon (not to be confused with Android Auto) to continue functioning while it’s navigating on Google Maps. You will soon be able to make Google Assistant stop talking or blaring alarms by simply by saying “Stop” instead of the full “Hey Google” prompt.
All of these voice features were teased as coming to “new Pixel phones later this year,” so interpret that cryptic statement as you will.
