While Google didn’t specifically mention any reason yet, it’s assumed that the cost of training Duplex on the Web has been the cause – considering Google uses a special user agent that isn’t feasible anymore.
Death of Duplex on Web
To the unknown, Duplex on Web is an extension to the Duplex phone reservation AI – launched in 2019. It used to help Android users buy movie tickets online through Google Assistant, which can navigate websites on its own. This was later expanded to automatically check into flights, track discounted deals, and even protect users against online data breaches – provided that you had your credit card data stored on Chrome. While it was a useful service, Google is, unfortunately, shutting it down to “fully focus on making AI advancements to the Duplex voice technology that helps people most every day.” In a support page spotted by TechCrunch, Google noted that Duplex on the Web wouldn’t work after the end of 2022. While the company hasn’t mentioned a specific reason, it’s assumed to be the cost of training has led to its demise. TechCrunch noted that Google used a special user agent to crawl websites multiple times a day, which trained the Duplex AI to serve users accordingly. But with its infeasibility over time and most website admins blocking this crawler from indexing their content has made the service useless. Thus, shutting down.
