In 2018, Google announced Duplex, a technology that aims to bring artificial intelligence even closer to human understanding. Able to interact naturally with other people, understand dynamic speech and use this potential to do tasks for people, this technology was one of the highlights of I/O that year. Now, at the Google for Brazil event, the company announced that Duplex is coming to the country.
With this novelty, Google aims to help companies connect with their customers in an increasingly fast, simple and natural way. It also plans to ensure more agility and ease in carrying out tasks on the internet that are usually time consuming, or may seem complex to those who are not so familiar with the digital world.
At the moment, Duplex is being tested in Brazil in the following functions: making calls to update information on commercial establishments in Search and Maps results, and automating tasks on the internet. For the latter, technology will facilitate the purchase of movie tickets and the consultation of polling places with the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
Automatic calls to establishments
The first application of Duplex in Brazil is to update company information on Google Maps and Search. With the new technology, this process becomes more agile, as it allows automatic calls to be made to businesses registered in the Company Profile on Google.
See the simulation of the call with Duplex on this link.
The big difference with Duplex is the naturalness of the conversation, both in speech and in the understanding of the answers, thanks to the advanced technology of natural language comprehension (NLU, its acronym in English). In this testing phase, the feature is being used in Brazil to update the opening hours of stores, restaurants, offices, among other establishments. Google has been making about 200 calls a day using Duplex. In the last three months, more than 50 thousand Brazilian companies were contacted through this technology. In Brazil, Duplex calls are being identified by the number: +55-11-3878-8565.
During the Covid-19 lockdown periods, Duplex was used in some countries to quickly and in large volume update information on the types of services and delivery methods that establishments would now offer.
Purchase of tickets and consultation of polling place
In addition to automating calls, Duplex is also being tested to help Brazilians perform tasks on the internet. The feature will allow people to buy tickets to movie sessions and consult polling places with the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) directly through Busca.
The first feature is being tested in partnership with Ingresso.com. To activate it, just search for a movie in theaters and then click on the desired session time. On the next screen, the option to make the purchase with the help of the Assistant will appear, which guides the person through the Ingresso.com website, fills in some information in an automated way, and makes the experience simpler and faster.
In the coming months, the feature will also help people look up the polling place for upcoming elections directly from the Search page. Through this feature, it will be possible to rely on the help of the Google Assistant, which will guide you step-by-step to find the polling place on the TSE website, even helping to fill in the data.
Feature is already used in ten more countries
Currently, Duplex is already used to make calls in 11 countries (in addition to Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, United States, France, Great Britain, Japan, Mexico and New Zealand). Duplex on the Web, a technology used to purchase tickets and consult polling places, is currently available in the United States and the United Kingdom, and is being tested in India and Brazil.
