AI call screening is hitting Pixel phones in the UK
Back during the Pixel 5 launch event, Google announced that the UK was getting AI call screening for its Pixel devices. While Google announced this back then, folks in the UK were wondering when it was going to finally roll out. Now, a full 12 months after the announcement, it’s finally coming to the region. People in the UK knew about the feature far longer than that, however. AI call screening was originally announced for the Pixel 3 and 3XL back in 2018. Back then, it was only available for the US. Since then, call screening made its way to Canada and Japan; however, it’s manual call screening, so no automatic help from the Google Assistant.
What is AI powered call screening?
We all know the feeling of getting called by numbers we don’t know; the caller ID might simply read “Unknown” caller or it could just show an unfamiliar number. In times like these, we want to be able to know who’s on the other end without picking up the phone. One way is through call screening, and Google gave the Pixel a way of doing it using AI. The call screening typically works is when someone calls you, you can listen in on what they’re saying without actually picking up the call. If you hear that the person is some you know, you can then answer the phone. Google adds a few features to this tool, and one of them is the Google Assistant (no surprise there). When you’re screening a call, your phone doesn’t actually ring. You will just get a silent notification letting you know you’re screening. During the actual screening process, Google Assistant will answer the call for you. It will ask who’s calling and why. If the Assistant determines that the caller is a robot or spam caller, it will automatically hang up. If the caller is not a robot, your phone will proceed to ring. The phone automatically saves a transcript of the call or the audio if you want to keep a record. This can be turned off if you’re not interested in it; the saved audio could take up storage. If you live in the UK and you don’t see call screening just yet, make sure your version of the phone app is up to date. If you still don’t see it, don’t worry, the feature is still rolling out.
