But on more specific requests, its work starts to look sloppy. When asked to write a memo about consumer preferences in Paraguay versus Uruguay, the system incorrectly described Paraguay as having a smaller population. At my pre-wedding welcome, it conjured or made up the meaning behind a song from a 1960s Hindi film.
The most ironic thing is that when the system prompts the benefits of Duet AI, the system describes Duet AI as a startup founded by two ex-Google employees to develop AI for the music industry, with funding from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and Y Combinator. $10 million. No such company seems to exist. Google encourages users to report inaccuracies via the thumbs down button below AI-generated responses.
Google screens for topics, keywords and other content clues to avoid offensive or unfairly influencing people’s responses, especially based on their demographics or political or religious beliefs, Behr said. She acknowledges that the system will make mistakes, but says feedback from public testing is crucial to countering the tendency for AI systems to reflect biases present in their training data or to convey fictitious information. “AI is going to be a forever project,” she said.
Still, Behr said early adopters, such as employees of Instacart and Victoria’s Secret’s Adore Me lingerie brand, have been positive about the technology. In a handwritten email, Instacart spokeswoman Lauren Svensson said the company was excited about testing Google’s AI capabilities but wasn’t prepared to share any insights.
My tests lead me to worry that AI writing aids could stifle originality to the detriment of the humans on the receiving end of AI texts. I imagine readers would be stunned by stale emails and documents, just as they were forced to read Google’s nearly 6,000-word privacy policy. It’s unclear how much personality Google’s tools will absorb, whether they’ll come to our aid or replace us.
In Google’s internal tests, so far, emails from colleagues haven’t turned out to be “common” or “generic,” Behr said. These tools, she says, enhance human ingenuity and creativity, not suppress them. Behr also likes AI models that mimic her style, but she says “these are the types of things we’re still evaluating.”
Despite the disappointments and limitations, it seems likely that the Duet feature in Docs and Gmail will appeal to some users who have come to rely on ChatGPT or rival AI writing software. Google has gone further than most other options, and what we see today is only a preview of the future.
As – or if – Duet matures from promising drafter to impartial expert file finisher, its use will become unstoppable. Until then, when it comes to writing those heartfelt vows and speeches, it’s a completely blank screen left for me.
