Hello, this is Adam's AI assistant. A new Google feature will allow Gemini to make calls for you

Is the era coming when AI assistants will communicate with each other instead of people? Google’s new Call for Me feature lets Gemini call a business and handle the entire call for you. It can reschedule a hairdresser’s appointment, book a table at a restaurant, or check the availability of an item at a hardware store. You then simply read the result in text form.

Google has been working on a similar idea for years. Back in 2018 at the I/O conference, it demonstrated the Duplex system, with which Google Assistant itself booked a hairdresser’s appointment, including naturally sounding “umms.” Pixels later received the Hold for Me feature, which notifies you once a live person answers after a waiting loop, and Direct My Call, which transcribes voice menu options onto the display. However, both require the user to dial the call and speak themselves. Call for Me connects these tools and adds the last and most crucial element: the conversation itself.

How does Call for Me work in practice?

It all starts in the Gemini app. Simply type what you need, for example, have the AI assistant call a specific restaurant and book a table for two for tomorrow at seven, or directly add “@Call for me” to the input. Google advises being as specific as possible and including alternative options in case the chosen time is unavailable. Before the call begins, Gemini will show a summary of the task – the number it will call, and the information it will disclose about you, typically your name and contact.

Then the call is made from your number via your mobile network, so the operator charges it as a regular call. Gemini will introduce itself at the beginning as a Google AI assistant calling on your behalf and recording the call. When it encounters a voice menu, it will navigate through it, and if transferred to a queue, it will wait. You can follow the progress in a live transcript or listen to the audio, with your microphone off by default. With the Take over button, you can join the call at any time, and Gemini will disconnect after a brief announcement.

After the call ends, a notification will arrive with a summary of the outcome. For those who want to be sure the assistant didn’t mess anything up, the Phone app’s call history contains the full transcript and recording of the conversation.

Those who don’t want calls from AI can opt out

Google has surrounded the feature with a number of safeguards, which it describes in its help documentation. Gemini will not call emergency services, will not make any payments, nor will it dictate credit card numbers. It will not disclose other sensitive data, such as passwords or health information, and cannot be used for telemarketing. Furthermore, the number of calls is monitored by a daily limit, but the company does not specify its amount.

The other side of the line is also considered. Google states that it wants to respect the time of staff in shops and at reception desks, and anyone who does not want calls from AI can opt out on a special page. This is also why it’s starting small: according to Google, real conversations are full of nuances, and it wants to fine-tune the feature first.

Personally, however, I still wonder what percentage of calls made this way will actually achieve a result. Not because of AI malfunction, but because of the human factor. I can vividly imagine that the first employee will not understand what the situation is about at all, the second will refuse to communicate with an artificial intelligence agent simply out of principle, and the third because they will not trust it. The caller will then waste time reading a negative report from Gemini and will still have to call the contacts themselves.

You can buy Pixel 11 here, but you won’t try Call for Me

The feature is currently being rolled out as an early trial version for Pixel 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro XL, and 11 Pro Fold. However, there are more conditions: you need a Google AI subscription, the public beta version of the Google Phone app, the system switched to English, and to be over 18 years old. Crucially, however, you need an American SIM card, and Gemini currently only calls US numbers.

Although the Pixel 11 series is commonly available here, it is highly unlikely that the feature will arrive in the Czech Republic anytime soon.

Would you let Gemini call a restaurant or hairdresser for you?

Sources: Google, 9to5Google, TechCrunch, Android Authority