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 Could at Google I/O, Duet has been in testing for a while, however it’s now accessible 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 is not only one factor—as an alternative, 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 write down a quick or draft an e-mail based mostly on a subject. In Docs, it could actually write content material equivalent to a buyer proposal or a narrative. In Slides, it could actually generate customized visuals utilizing a picture synthesis mannequin. In Sheets, it could actually assist format present spreadsheets or create a customized spreadsheet construction suited to a specific activity, equivalent to a mission 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 will probably additionally reportedly seize notes and video, sending a abstract to attendees within the assembly. Actually, utilizing Duet’s “attend for me” characteristic, Google says that “Duet AI will be capable to be part of the assembly in your behalf” and ship you a recap later.
In Google Chat, Duet reads every thing that is occurring in your conversations so that you could “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 date, 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 writer named Charlie Guo ran by Duet options in a useful 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, filled with telltale glitches present in picture synthesis paintings from 2022. Positive, it is neat as a tech demo, however that is what a trillion-dollar firm says is a production-ready software right now.
Trainer Alice Keeler requested Google Slides to create “a robotic trainer in entrance of the chalkboard.” These are the outcomes.
In fact, these capabilities can (and can) change over time as Google refines its choices. Ultimately, Duet could also be absorbed into day by day utilization as if it weren’t even there, very similar to Google’s myriad different machine-learning options in its merchandise.
