On Tuesday, Google announced the launch of its Duet AI assistant throughout its Workspace apps, together with Docs, Gmail, Drive, Slides, and extra. First announced in Might 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 title for a large number of various AI capabilities and possibly ought to have been referred to as “Google Kitchen Sink.” It probably represents a number of distinct AI programs behind the scenes. For instance, in Gmail, Duet can summarize a dialog thread throughout emails, use the content material of an e mail to jot down a quick or draft an e mail primarily based on a subject. In Docs, it will probably write content material corresponding to a buyer proposal or a narrative. In Slides, it will probably generate customized visuals utilizing a picture synthesis mannequin. In Sheets, it will probably assist format present spreadsheets or create a customized spreadsheet construction suited to a selected job, corresponding to a venture tracker.
An instance of Google Duet in motion (considered one of many), supplied by Google.
A few of Duet’s functions really feel like confusion in branding. In Google Meet, Google says that Duet AI can “make sure 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 routinely translated captions. It could actually additionally reportedly seize notes and video, sending a abstract to attendees within the assembly. The truth is, utilizing Duet’s “attend for me” characteristic, Google says that “Duet AI will be capable of be a part of the assembly in your behalf” and ship you a recap later.
In Google Chat, Duet reads every little thing that is happening in your conversations as a way to “ask questions on your content material, get a abstract of paperwork shared in an area, and compensate for missed conversations.”
An instance of Google Duet in motion (considered one of many), supplied by Google.
These are the advertising guarantees. To this point, as noticed on social media, Duet in apply appears pretty mundane, like a mixture of what we have seen with Google Bard and extra complicated variations of Google’s present autocomplete options. An creator named Charlie Guo ran by means of Duet options in a helpful X thread, noting the AI mannequin’s awkward e mail compositions. “The writing is nearly 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. Certain, it is neat as a tech demo, however that is what a trillion-dollar firm says is a production-ready device as we speak.
Trainer Alice Keeler requested Google Slides to create “a robotic trainer in entrance of the chalkboard.” These are the outcomes.
After all, these capabilities can (and can) change over time as Google refines its choices. Ultimately, Duet could also be absorbed into every day utilization as if it weren’t even there, very similar to Google’s myriad different machine-learning options in its merchandise.
