Newly discovered code in Google's phone app suggests that AI is coming to call screening.
It should mean better understanding of callers' intent and more nuanced responses to those calls.
For all the hype around AI, it hasn't really delivered life-changing benefits for most of us. But, that may change for Pixel phone owners, because Google has developed an AI application that'll help you dodge unwanted calls without just blanking the caller, and to handle other calls on your behalf.
The new feature isn't live yet, but it's been spotted in the latest beta of the Phone by Google app.
As 9to5Google reports, the code describes new AI-powered smart replies, which are based on a caller’s Call Screen responses. These are said to be coming to Call Assist, Google's suite of smart phone features that include Direct My Call, Call Notes and so on.
We've already seen a preview of this in the form of contextual replies, which Google brought to the Pixel phone late last year. However, this version invites AI to the call screening party.
What can AI do to improve call screening?
At the moment, Google's phone app can provide contextual responses to calls – so for example, if someone calls you to confirm an appointment, you'll see options to confirm or to cancel it.
With AI, that contextual awareness could go much deeper, offer much better understanding of the caller's intent, and deliver much more detailed options for your responses, in much the same way that Gemini AI responds to questions and queries.
We don't yet know the details – 9to5Google wasn't able to get the feature to turn on, or to find any screenshots of it – or even when it's coming. But, Google has previously dropped some big hints about AI-enhanced call screening in the past.
In its Made By Google podcast last year, the product manager in charge of the phone app said: "We think AI is what takes you there into the future... there’ll be some things coming up in the world of solving for unwanted calls that I think are going to be really exciting."
