Google's Duplex can't fully replace humans ... yet.
Image via Glenn Harvey at NYT
Google previewed Duplex at its I/O conference in 2018 and has been recently expanding device support for the service. Demos promise that a borderline creepy voicebot, powered by artificial intelligence, will call restaurants and make reservations for you over the phone. Wicked cool. Bit scary, and eerily human.
Except that - as it turns out - it’s not always a bot. Sometimes real humans need to step in …
ALBANY, Calif. — On a recent afternoon at the Lao Thai Kitchen restaurant, the telephone rang and the caller ID read “Google Assistant.” Jimmy Tran, a waiter, answered the phone. The caller was a man with an Irish accent hoping to book a dinner reservation for two on the weekend.
This was no ordinary booking. It came through Google Duplex, a free service that uses artificial intelligence to call restaurants and — mimicking a human voice — speak on our behalf to book a table. The feature, which had a limited release about a year ago, recently became available to a larger number of Android devices and iPhones.
The voice of the Irish man sounded eerily human. When asked whether he was a robot, the caller immediately replied, “No, I’m not a robot,” and laughed.
