Google Duplex AI Expands Reservation Service To 43 States, Non-Pixel Support Incoming

Google initially shocked and amazed us all with its dazzling Google Duplex AI at last year's I/O conference. The demos highlighting surprisingly life-like interactions between a "synthetic" caller and human reservation taker on the other end of the line for booking things like a hair appointment or dinner date.

After first bringing Duplex to Pixel phones last year in a few major cities across the United States (New York, San Francisco, etc.), Google is now ready for a broader rollout across much of the country. It announced that Duplex is now available for all Pixel owners in 43 states. You can see the full list of supported states by clicking the following link.

But that's not all. Google also says that Duplex will be coming to additional Android devices and even iOS devices "over the next few weeks".

As with the previous trials of Duplex, booking an appointment is relatively simple. You tell the Google Assistant where you'd like to book a reservation, and Duplex takes over. Google gives the example, "Book a table for four people at [restaurant name] tomorrow night.” 

From there, the Google Assistant will place the call, interacting with humans on the other end for you all automatically using human-like speech patterns. For those that would feel a bit creeped out not knowing that they are talking to a computer and not a real human being, the receiver will get a prerecorded message explaining that this is an automated call.

Once a reservation/appointment is successfully booked, you'll receive a confirmation notification (via phone and email) along with a calendar invite.

As for the states that where Duplex currently isn't available -- Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska and Texas -- Google says that it is working with local and state laws to ensure that it bring the service to residents.