You can now make Google Duplex, i.e. Assistant check stock of various stores via a simple call. The latest version of the Google My Business Help pages reveal the futuristic inventory status inquiries are already live in the majority of the United States.
48 states in total, to be more specific. Only Kentucky and Louisiana are yet to receive access to the new Google Assistant functionality as of today, June 19th. It’s presently unclear why the American Southeast will be the last to embrace Google Duplex’s intelligent inventory inquiries.
The Occam’s razor herein would be that Google simply doesn’t see much potential for B2C AI mediators in the region. After all, the so-called Dixie zone isn’t exactly a stronghold of the tertiary economic sector.
Google Duplex is perfect for the service industry
Looking at the broader picture, the services industry is what Google Duplex is all about. Because Alphabet’s subsidiary designed this AI helper as a versatile mediator meant to facilitate consumer-to-business interactions.
And the American Southeast is much more focused on the first two economic segments like mining, manufacture, agriculture, etc. Meaning it’s not as conducive to the rapid growth of consumer-facing software solutions such as Google Duplex.
Hey Google, could you check if the Galaxy S20+ BTS Edition is in stock?
In practice, the latest Duplex capability allows you to instruct Google Assistant to e.g. find out if a local Samsung reseller has any more Galaxy S20+ BTS Edition units in stock. Like all things Duplex, the service does so by calling a given business directly.
That’s at the very least a neat party trick, not to mention an AI foundation with nearly limitless potential. So long as you don’t worry your pretty little gray matter cells with nonsense like ethics, of course.
Anyhow, the newest addition to the Google Duplex feature list adds value to the service in a rather straightforward manner. It’s also entirely free for both businesses and their clientele since the dial-happy assistant is still deep inside the growth-dedicated phase of its roadmap.
Which is becoming increasingly more important given how some rivaling solutions generated quite a few momentum in recent years. After all, Alexa doctor appointments have been a thing for over a year now, with Amazon taking less than a year to copy this key functionality from Google Assistant.
More importantly, it did so while consistently ramping up efforts aimed at developing numerous unique selling points of its own digital helper. So, Google certainly can’t rest on its laurels – despite pioneering so many technologies in the AI space.