Let Google’s AI Make Your Calls

Google's AI Search can now make phone calls to businesses for you. Let’s face it—most people dread calling a business. Whether it’s aski...

Google's AI Search can now make phone calls to businesses for you.

Let’s face it—most people dread calling a business. Whether it’s asking a restaurant about tonight’s wait times or confirming store hours during a holiday, even the simplest question often comes with a wait, a hold tone, or an awkward misunderstanding. Google is tackling that pain point head-on with its increasingly capable Google Duplex technology, and now the experience is going mainstream.

Instead of forcing users to call businesses themselves, Google’s AI assistant can now place calls, ask questions, and send you the answers by text. These conversations sound human, feel natural, and—most importantly—save you time and energy. Want to check if a flower shop has same-day delivery? Done. Need to confirm if your local bike repair shop has your tire size? The AI will call and ask.

This isn’t just some prototype buried in Google Labs. These capabilities are actively integrated into services like Google Assistant and Google Maps. You’ll often see helpful, AI-sourced updates next to a business listing: “Verified by phone today at 10:30 AM.” That verification was likely made by Duplex.

Google’s AI has leveled up; it can now call businesses and ask about pricing or product availability, then text you the details.

Behind the scenes, the system uses natural language processing and Google’s deep learning models to interact with real humans on the other end of the line. It can handle interruptions, rephrased questions, and accents. This isn’t just about calling restaurants anymore—Google’s AI can navigate complex business questions, return policy clarifications, and even multi-location inventory checks.

On the business side, this helps keep listings accurate without the need for manual updates. If your store hours change for a local event or bad weather, Duplex can call, verify, and update them in real time. That means fewer disappointed customers and fewer calls flooding your front desk.

Of course, as with any major shift in automation, ethics and transparency are key concerns. Google assures users that the AI identifies itself clearly at the beginning of each call, and businesses are notified that they’re speaking with an automated system. Calls may be recorded for quality and training purposes, and consent is always requested.

The vision, though, goes beyond convenience. Google envisions a world where the Assistant not only manages your smart home or calendar but also interacts with the real world on your behalf. In a future version of Google’s ecosystem, AI might book your DMV appointments, handle returns with online retailers, or even coordinate interviews for job seekers.

Other companies are taking notes. Amazon is reportedly experimenting with similar technologies for customer service calls, and Apple’s own Apple Intelligence could eventually extend to voice interactions. But Google, with its years of head start on Duplex, remains far ahead in the AI-calling game.

As we approach the era of autonomous agents and personal AI secretaries, the humble phone call—once the gold standard of human connection—is being rewritten line by line by artificial intelligence. What started as a demo is quickly becoming a daily habit. So next time you wonder whether that neighborhood sushi place is open late, you might not need to look it up—or call. Just ask your Assistant, and let the AI handle it while you keep scrolling.