Google wants to handle your phone calls and replace human interactions with AI avatars—giving the same company that silences dissent deeper access to your daily business under the guise of convenience.
Big Tech never stops trying to insert itself between you and your life. Google is rolling out an experimental "Call for Me" feature powered by Gemini, letting the AI navigate phone menus and sit on hold for you. Simultaneously, the company is pushing "Live Avatars"—AI faces with lip-syncing designed to replace human customer service agents. It is a massive data harvesting operation dressed up as a timesaver.
Hot Hardware framed the new calling feature as a relief from "cheesy ads on loop," and TechSpot claimed it gives users "more control." Both outlets bury the reality: Google is intercepting your communications. According to TechSpot, the feature lets Gemini call businesses to place orders, schedule appointments, or check stock. It explicitly identifies itself as an AI and provides a real-time transcript, allowing users to take over. But to get this "convenience," you must own a Pixel 11, pay for a Gemini subscription, and run the Phone by Google beta. You are paying Google to intermediare your calls.
This is Google’s second bite at the apple after the ill-fated Google Duplex. History suggests businesses and consumers aren't ready. TechSpot reported that when Meta tried a similar service with its Muse AI, businesses just hung up. Meta then secretly hired human contractors, sparking privacy concerns before scrapping the project. Facebook M, another supposedly AI project, also turned out to be a human-powered fraud.
While Google tries to automate your outbound calls, it is also automating inbound interactions. Engadget reported that Google has added video avatars to its Gemini 3.8 Live models. These avatars feature "precise lip-syncing" and "natural expressions" to do things like sales support and customer service. Google promises a library of "diverse, preset avatars" and claims they are watermarked with SynthID to keep AI-generated content transparent. But the goal is clear: replace human workers with AI that listens, sees, and speaks for the enterprise.
The establishment press frames these tools as helpful assistants. They are surveillance infrastructure. If Google cannot be trusted to run a search engine without censoring conservative voices, handing it the keys to your phone calls and business negotiations is a fool's errand.
