Google's creepy new Gemini Live Avatars want to try and make online support bots feel more human

(Image credit: Google) Gemini 3.8 Live now includes custom avatars to go with the AI's voiceAvatars could be used for customer service, training and moreGemini 3.8 Live can switch between 97 languages automaticallyGoogle has lifted the wraps of its latest Gemini 3.8 Live model, and with it come avatars you can select to make it feel more like you're speaking to a human. Sort of.It's all possible through a combination of Gemini's real-time speech capabilities and low-latency video generation, so it looks like your chosen avatar is effectively lip-syncing to the text that Gemini is reading out to you.Research scientist Shuo-yiin Chang and software engineer CJ Zheng said it now feels like AI has a much more "visual presence" - so that's...nice?Gemini now takes on the body of your chosen avatar with Gemini 3.8 LiveAvatars are designed specifically for enterprise users, but rather than company employees talking to an avatar to get their work done, Google sees it more as showing off what's possible for its customers' end users. In other words, avatars could be used for customer service, receptionists, training and more.From launch, businesses will be able to select from a library of preset avatars, but they can also create custom avatars to fit a company's branding, for example with a relevant logo on its uniform.On the safety front, Google asserts that videos of its avatars include SynthID watermarking to verify that they are indeed AI-generated. "This imperceptible watermark is woven directly into the audio and video output, helping to ensure AI-generated content remains detectable to help minimise misinformation and misattribution," the company wrote.In a separate post, Google also revealed that Gemini 3.8 Live can now support 97 languages and automatic language switching to make multilingual conversations more seamless. A more hardcore version of that model, 3.8 Live Extended Thinking, outperformed GPT-Live-1 Astra and Grok Voice Think Fast 2.0 across multiple benchmarks while still ending up cheaper to run per hour of input audio.Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. With several years’ experience freelancing in tech and automotive circles, Craig’s specific interests lie in technology that is designed to better our lives, including AI and ML, productivity aids, and smart fitness. He is also passionate about cars and the decarbonisation of personal transportation. As an avid bargain-hunter, you can be sure that any deal Craig finds is top value!