Google announced on Tuesday that household name companies, including Best Buy, Mercedes Benz, and ADT, are now using its Gemini AI technology to build custom chatbots — meaning that Google’s AI will soon play a part in everything from troubleshooting problems with a Best Buy purchase to setting up an ADT home security system.
Google revealed the news at its ongoing Google Cloud Next conference in Las Vegas, per Engadget.
Best Buy confirmed Google’s statements with an announcement on Tuesday about its forthcoming AI tools.
According to Bloomberg, Best Buy’s AI chatbots will handle customer inquiries for basic requests, like order delivery and scheduling. The bots will take some of the workload from human Best Buy employees working in stores and at call centers, though it’s unclear if jobs will be impacted. The AI will start rolling out “in the coming months.”
Mercedes, meanwhile, is working on an AI chatbot to add to its smart sales assistant, while IHG Hotels & Resorts is developing a vacation planning bot to enhance its mobile app, according to Engadget.
Home security company ADT is also building an AI customer service agent to help customers set up its products, per the same report.
AI has already impacted a variety of industries, with buy-now-pay-later company Klarna stating in February that its AI chatbot “is doing the equivalent work of 700 full-time [customer service] agents.”
On the financial side, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon mentioned in a letter to shareholders on Monday that AI could augment “virtually every job.”
Related: A New AI Startup from Unicorn Founders Wants Businesses to Know Their ‘Worth’
AI-centered startups have seen an interest in funding, with a February report showing that 44% of all the new billion-dollar-plus valued companies that came on the scene last year focused on AI and machine learning.
However, it hasn’t been all positive news for Google’s AI efforts. In February, the tech giant took down its Gemini AI image generator after users noted that the AI placed people of color in historically inaccurate contexts.
The image generator is still not back up.
In March, news leaked of private talks between Google and Apple about bringing Google’s AI features to the iPhone.
Google’s Cloud Next conference runs until Thursday.
Related: Apple Is Reportedly in Negotiations to Build Google’s Gemini AI Into iPhone Features
