Google opens access to meeting assistant, other Gen AI-enabled tools

Google has opened access to its meeting assistant Duet AI which will enable users to attend meetings and generate notes without joining calls, the company said on Tuesday.

So far, access to the AI collaborator was restricted to subscribers.

Duet AI is Google's AI integration for Google Cloud and Workspace, which will allow users to not only take notes, but also join meetings on their behalf, capture notes, action items and video snippets, a senior Google Workspace executive said during a media roundtable ahead of Google Cloud Next 2023 on Tuesday.

"Duet will act as your meeting assistant -- capturing notes, action items, video snippets in real time with the new 'Take notes for me' feature. This can even help you to jump in and join late," Google Workspace VP-Products Kristina Behr said.

On the 'Ask to attend for me' feature, she said, "There’s a way to be in two places at one time by asking Duet to attend for me. Simply RSVP to a meeting that you'd like Duet to attend and add an optional message for the meeting participants… it will automatically send you notes after the call."

Duet AI will also be able to detect and provide support in 300 languages, besides being able to generate speaker notes using Google Slides, Behr added.

Duet AI was introduced in May, using generative AI features for generating text and making a summary, along with image generation from prompts, and data organisation.

The company also announced adding AI to its chats function for updates, insights and "proactive suggestions" across workplace apps and generate a summary of recent conversations, Behr said.

Addressing privacy concerns for enterprises, Behr said, "As we embed AI into Workspace -- protecting confidentiality, privacy and customer data continues to be our top priority.”

Consulting firms like Accenture, Capgemini, Deloitte and Wipro will collectively train about 1.5 lakh experts for customers to implement Google Cloud Gen AI, CEO of Google Cloud Thomas Kurian said in a company release.

Google Cloud reached a USD 32 billion annual revenue run rate, recording profitability in the April-June period, Kurian added.

Google also announced advancements to cloud-based machine learning platform Vertex AI, making it generally available for companies to create Search and Chat applications using their data in minutes.

The American microblogging company is holding its first in-person Google Cloud Next Event since 2019, from August 29-31.