On Tuesday, Google introduced the launch of its Duet AI assistant throughout its Workspace apps, together with Docs, Gmail, Drive, Slides, and extra. First introduced in May at Google I/O, Duet has been in testing for a while, however it’s now obtainable to paid Google Workspace enterprise customers (what Google calls its suite of cloud productiveness apps) for $30 a month along with common Workspace charges.
Duet isn’t just one factor—as a substitute, it is a blanket model identify for a mess of various AI capabilities and doubtless ought to have been known as “Google Kitchen Sink.” It seemingly represents a number of distinct AI methods behind the scenes. For instance, in Gmail, Duet can summarize a dialog thread throughout emails, use the content material of an e mail to put in writing a short or draft an e mail primarily based on a subject. In Docs, it will possibly write content material comparable to a buyer proposal or a narrative. In Slides, it will possibly generate customized visuals utilizing a picture synthesis mannequin. In Sheets, it will possibly assist format current spreadsheets or create a customized spreadsheet construction suited to a selected process, comparable to a mission tracker.
An instance of Google Duet in motion (one in every of many), supplied by Google.
Some of Duet’s purposes really feel like confusion in branding. In Google Meet, Google says that Duet AI can “guarantee you look and sound your greatest with studio look, studio lighting, and studio sound,” together with “dynamic tiles” and “face detection”—features that really feel far faraway from typical generative AI capabilities—in addition to robotically translated captions. It may also reportedly seize notes and video, sending a abstract to attendees within the assembly. In reality, utilizing Duet’s “attend for me” function, Google says that “Duet AI will have the ability to be part of the assembly in your behalf” and ship you a recap later.
In Google Chat, Duet reads every little thing that is occurring in your conversations in order that you can “ask questions on your content material, get a abstract of paperwork shared in an area, and atone for missed conversations.”
An instance of Google Duet in motion (one in every of many), supplied by Google.
Those are the advertising guarantees. So far, as noticed on social media, Duet in apply appears pretty mundane, like a mixture of what we have seen with Google Bard and extra advanced variations of Google’s current autocomplete options. An creator named Charlie Guo ran via Duet options in a helpful X thread, noting the AI mannequin’s awkward e mail compositions. “The writing is sort of painfully formal,” he says.
In Slides, a Google-sponsored trainer named Alice Keeler requested Google Duet to make a robotic trainer in entrance of a chalkboard and posted it on X. The outcomes are awkward and arguably unusable, stuffed with telltale glitches present in picture synthesis art work from 2022. Sure, it is neat as a tech demo, however that is what a trillion-dollar firm says is a production-ready instrument immediately.
Teacher Alice Keeler requested Google Slides to create “a robotic trainer in entrance of the chalkboard.” These are the outcomes.
Of course, these capabilities can (and will) change over time as Google refines its choices. Eventually, Duet could also be absorbed into each day utilization as if it weren’t even there, very similar to Google’s myriad different machine-learning options in its merchandise.