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‘Tis the season for developer conferences where tech companies show us a glimpse of the future. These conferences are an opportunity for businesses to showcase major developments that may quickly become part of our daily lives. Last week Facebook revealed its news at the F8 developers conference and this week it’s Google’s turn.
At its I/O Developers Conference this week, Google announced updates to Android, Google Assistant, and Google Photos, while introducing new tools based on artificial intelligence (AI). These announcements may significantly affect how we will use tech very soon.
Google Duplex
The most amazing announcement at the I/O Conference was Google Duplex, a new feature for Google Assistant that uses AI so we can make robocalls to others. Except the robocalls are so realistic, others may never guess that it was Google Assistant making the call instead of you.
Using AI, Google Duplex can imitate a human speaking well enough to make appointments or reservations over the phone. Ask Google Assistant to make an appointment at your hair salon for a certain date and time, then Google Duplex will make the call. Duplex can also make reservations at restaurants.
Duplex will speak to the salon or restaurant, telling them your name, desired date and time and the service you want done or the number of people in your party. The conversation can happen without the salon or restaurant knowing that it’s speaking to Duplex instead of a human.
Google Assistant will then confirm with you that the appointment has been made.
Google has made Duplex sound natural, not like a robot, and has even included “um” and “uh” into the conversation to mimic a human. Pauses in the conversation are also added to resemble human speech patterns.
Also see => Apps to Block Annoying Robocalls
Here are sound samples of Duplex making a salon appointment and a restaurant reservation:
Google Duplex making a salon appointment:
Google Duplex making a restaurant reservation:
The company plans to begin to roll out Duplex to users this summer. Read more about the tech that’s behind Google Duplex at the Google AI Blog.
Update: After receiving many comments on social media, Google has announced that Duplex will identify itself in conversations to prevent people being fooled into thinking they are speaking with a human. The Verge, Google now says controversial AI voice calling system will identify itself to humans.
Other Google Assistant Updates
Google Assistant is now on over 500 million devices, including cars, TVs, headphones, speakers and more, according to Google. By the end of 2018, Google Assistant will be available in 30 different languages in 80 countries. Google Assistant is getting six new voices, including John Legend’s, and languages so you’ll be able to choose the gender and sound of its voice.
Google Assistant is becoming more naturally conversational so you won’t have to say “Hey, Google” every time you speak to Google Assistant. As you carry on a conversation with Google Assistant, it will continue to respond to you, without you needing to say “Hey, Google” every time.
You will be able to give multiple instructions to Google Assistant in one command. The example was given of asking Google Assistant to get directions to a destination and play music.
“Pretty Please” is a new feature that will let Google Assistant teach children to mind their manners and use “please” and “thank you” in conversations. Their politeness will be rewarded with positive feedback from Google Assistant.
Google Maps Updates
Google Maps will be updated so you’ll be able to see suggestions of places you might like near you. Maps will take your Google reviews of places into account and suggest other businesses you might like in a For You section.
For You will suggest places you might like and give a match score showing how certain Google is that you will like it.
Augmented Reality will be added to Google Maps so you can see directions layered over Google Street View. You’ll be able to see on your phone screen the Street View with arrows and other information guiding you where to go.
This feature will be available for walking directions to help you orient yourself and follow Google Maps’ instructions. It will also show a layer of suggested places on your route.
Google Photos
Google Photos will analyze the content of the photos to suggest Smart Actions. For example, if you take photos at an event of a certain person, Google Photos may suggest that you share those photos with that person.
Google Photos will also be able to recognize photos of documents and offer to convert them to a PDF.
If your photos are under-exposed, Google Photos will suggest adjusting the brightness for better pictures.
Google Photos will also be able to convert black and white photos to color with a colorizing process.
You’ll also be able to adjust the background of a photo to black and white while leaving part of the image in color.
Android P
The newest version of Google’s mobile operating system, Android P, will offer features such as Adaptive Battery to increase the duration of your battery.
App Actions in Android P learns your usage patterns to figure out what you’ll be doing next with your phone and suggests them to save you steps. Google claims a 60% success rate in predicting which actions you’ll be doing next on your phone.
Android P may also help you curb your smart phone addiction with Dashboard that shows you how much time you’ve been spending on your device and which apps you’ve used the most. You can set time limits for apps and get reminders when you’re near the limit.
Shush is an automatic way to silence your phone, just by putting it face-down on a surface. The phone will automatically go into Do Not Disturb mode, though you can allow calls from important folks.
Wind Down lets you set a time to go to sleep at night. At the designated time, Do Not Disturb will turn on and the screen will change to black and white.
Predicting Medical Events
Google may be able to save lives by predicting medical events. By analyzing a patient’s vital statistics and medical events, Google may be able to foresee whether a patient is likely to experience a medical event.
This could help doctors diagnose medical conditions, prescribe treatments and prepare patients for likely outcomes.
Gmail Update – Smart Compose
Google is introducing Smart Compose that suggests entire phrases while you type in Gmail. Google uses machine learning to figure out your speech patterns, then suggests phrases you may want to include in your Gmail messages.
Check out => New Gmail Update Adds Smart and Safe Features — Here’s How to Get It Now
Google News
Google News is getting an update to help you find news that’s important to you. Within a new section called Newsstand you’ll be able to choose sources to see in your news feed and subscribe to publications within Google News. Subscriptions will work outside of Google News as well as inside the service.
Newscasts are a way to keep up on the news. Google News will show you a video of stories and you can choose which ones you want to learn more about.
Waymo Driverless Taxi Service
Google is launching Waymo’s driverless taxi service later this year in Pheonix, Arizona. You’ll be able to use Waymo to get to your destination without interacting with another human.
This video from Waymo shows how its driverless taxi service works:
Your Thoughts
Were you impressed with Google’s announcements from their I/O conference this year? Which updates were the most impressive to you? Which ones would you like to use in your daily life?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
Hi Carolyn,
These are very interesting developments. I think we are moving more and more towards using Artificial Intelligence but there are still some obstacles in the way. Some of the tech we have now still amazes me. I have a smart TV that does smart things and stupid things too. It can read movies from a 1 Tb flash drive which is cool but it often has to rescan all the channels before I can watch anything!
I’m still into photography, currently, I have a picture in an art competition and I’m involved in the organising of a local arts festival which will be a festival of photography.
I’m keeping busy! 🙂
Hi Mike, That’s funny that your smart TV is both smart and stupid. You’re right, sometimes the new features get so complicated that the TVs can’t do the basic stuff well.
That’s fantastic you’re organizing a local arts festival of photography. What a wonderful way to enrich your community!
Hello
Carolyn,
You keep updating your blog visitors from your blog with new things and that’s great. I am very happy to know Google has announced to update their provided services like Google assistant, Android, Google Photos, Google P and Google Maps.
Really, Google has changed our daily life and make it easier and faster. These updates will be heartly appreciated by the internet users once launched.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Have a great day,
Praveen verma
Hi Praveen, Yes, these announcements really show us the future of tech. Duplex is a little unnerving because if we can fool businesses, then they can fool us too. We should be able to know whether we’re talking to a human or not. Those robocalls that try to fool us are annoying, so Duplex sounding like a human might be even worse. Or better if it means less time we have to spend on hold when we call a company.
Hey this is such a lovely compilation of all the Google Conference releases. I was just looking for this kind of single post where I would get information about all the hot topics in the recent Google IO.
Thanks
Hi Rohan, Yes, Google certainly announce a lot at its I/O conference this year and most of its announcements will affect our daily lives. It will be interesting to see how quickly these features launch and how quickly we start using them.
Hey Carolyn,
There were tons of announcements at Google I/O conference, it’s important that how we accept them & start using them.
~ Donna
Hi Donna, Yes, I do wonder if we’ll accept Duplex and start using it for task such as scheduling appointments or reservations. It could be very hand and save us a lot of time.
Nice article. I was pretty blown away by the Google Duplex demo. Just when you thought life couldn’t get anymore simplified. It’s like having your own personal assistant at your beck and call!
Hi Adam, Yes, if Duplex works well, and they expand the service, it could save us time and hassle. I wonder how long Duplex can wait on hold if the business is busy. That would be great to avoid being put on hold!
Thanks, Carolyn, for a great article on “Waymo Driverless Taxi Service”. This looks great, as long as all the other cars are either driverless or driven by totally courteous persons. Unfortunately, that’s not where I live. Here, it is common to see motorcycle drivers (and even the small 4-wheeled vehicles) doing testosterone-fueled wheelies. I participate in a volunteer activity where I am near a busy intersection for 5 hours, once per week, and there what I see is that the nice guy doesn’t cross the street. I can picture Waymo sitting there for 1 or 2 hours until the traffic dies down enough to have a go at it.
There’s a lotta situations to take into consideration!
Hi Jim, Great point. There are stories of people walking in front of driverless cars because the pedestrians know that the cars will stop for them. Unfortunately, that may be putting way too much faith in the automation.
It will be interesting to see how driverless cars are able to navigate more complex driving situations.
Hi Carolyn,
I am really excited for this technology to become universal. I am an avid follower of tech news regarding the automotive industry and the announcements from Google, as well as the new developments on the Tesla front, really gets me excited.
For a better future, we need better technology. I hope we get there as soon as possible, thanks for sharing too.
Hi Mehmet, Yes, these announcements from Google were truly impressive and may have a big impact on the way we live. The Waymo vehicles may change the way we hail taxi cabs in the future. It will be interesting to see where this new tech takes us!