I’d let Gemini make calls for me, but I’m drawing the line at one kind of call

Calling a business is a special kind of awful. Luckily, Google wants Gemini to deal with it, so you don’t have to.

On September 21, Android Authority spotted code in the Phone by Google app beta, version 239, for a Gemini-powered tool codenamed “Hedwig” (yes, the Harry Potter owl).

Three days later, it became more or less official under a less magical name. Call for Me dials the number, plays the “press 1, press 2” game, and does the talking when a human picks up.

For now, it’s an early preview. If Google pulls this off, I’ll be first in line to say thank you and will gladly wait on hold to do so.

Gemini will make your errand calls now

Fine print included

Google began rolling out Call for Me as an early preview on September 24. You can ask it to check if a hardware store has something you want in stock, or to move a restaurant reservation.

Gemini places the call from your number, navigates automated menus, and waits on hold if needed.

When someone answers, it says up front that an AI assistant is calling for you. Then it handles the request and reports back.

You can follow a live transcript and jump in at any point, but the system is designed to run the exchange without you.

For now, you need a Pixel 11 series phone with a US carrier SIM, the Phone by Google public beta, and a paid Google AI subscription, which starts at the Plus tier.

You also have to be 18 or older, and it only works in English and only calls US numbers.

Google built a phone assistant one Pixel at a time

Remember Duplex?

This has been coming for a long time. Google didn’t wake up one morning and decide to hate phone calls.

We’ve watched Google hand a little more of the phone call to software with almost every Pixel for eight years.

Do you remember the 2018 Duplex demo where Google Assistant booked a hair salon appointment?

It wowed me at the time. Then again, stage demos are like movie trailers. They show you the best two minutes. Duplex was AI, but a much older and narrower kind than today’s chatbots.

It was a narrow specialist. Google trained it separately for each task, such as restaurant reservations or salon bookings, and it couldn’t hold an open-ended conversation.

In 2019, Google confirmed to The New York Times that about a quarter of Duplex calls were started by a human, and that people stepped in on about 15% of the rest.

Duplex never became the do-everything assistant the demo promised. Google killed Duplex on the Web in 2022, but it kept the calling tech out of the graveyard and folded it into smaller features.

Call Screen came with the Pixel 3 in 2018. It answers for you, asks who’s calling and why, and shows a live transcript before you decide to pick up.

Hold for Me followed with the Pixel 5 in 2020, listening to hold music and pinging you when a person comes back.

Then came Direct My Call on the Pixel 6 in 2021. Now Call for Me on the Pixel 11 ties it all together. Well, almost.

When your bot calls their bot, who’s talking?

We’re going in circles, but at least the view is better

There’s a weird tension here. While Google arms phone owners with AI to skip support queues, businesses are replacing human reps with their own AI voice agents.

I get why companies are rushing in. AI voice systems are cheaper to operate. But now it’s my bot calling their bot.

If they hit a wall, it’s me and a human rep talking to each other again. It looks like we went in a circle. More like a spiral staircase if you ask me.

Yes, we’re back where we started, but with a much better view. If the bots can handle the small stuff, the only calls left for people are the ones worth having. That’s cheaper for the company and less annoying for me.

Gemini wants to call your mom next

That’s where I draw the line

Google doesn’t plan to stop at hotlines. The setup screens suggest asking the AI to call “Mom” and tell her you’re running 15 minutes late.

Another prompt has it ring “John” to ask if he’s coming over for dinner. Looks like a similar pattern. Gemini handles the exchange and reports the answer back to you.

Handing the hold line to a bot is pure utility. I don’t know anyone who misses the on-hold jazz music. But having that same bot call your mom is so dystopian.

Tech has pushed us into our own little silos, with social media replacing real connection. A bot that calls my family for me would be the last straw. I don’t know about you, but I won’t be using it.

Before I get too worked up, I should point out that this is unreleased code, and Google scraps features like this all the time. Then again, the last time Call for Me showed up was in a teardown.

Least flashy AI is usually the most useful

The Phone app might be Google’s most practical AI product.

While a lot of the industry is using generative AI for an endless barrage of AI slop, the Pixel team keeps fixing the stuff that makes people whine when their phone rings.

I’ll say it again. Boring but practical features beat flashy demos every time.