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Google AI

Google Opens Its Human-Sounding Duplex AI To Public Testing (cnet.com) 36

Google is moving ahead with Duplex, the stunningly human-sounding artificial intelligence software behind its new automated system that places phone calls on your behalf with a natural-sounding voice instead of a robotic one. From a report: The search giant said Wednesday it's beginning public testing of the software, which debuted in May and which is designed to make calls to businesses and book appointments. Duplex instantly raised questions over the ethics and privacy implications of using an AI assistant to hold lifelike conversations for you. Google says its plan is to start its public trial with a small group of "trusted testers" and businesses that have opted into receiving calls from Duplex. Over the "coming weeks," the software will only call businesses to confirm business and holiday hours, such as open and close times for the Fourth of July. People will be able to start booking reservations at restaurants and hair salons starting "later this summer."
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Google Opens Its Human-Sounding Duplex AI To Public Testing

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27, 2018 @09:25AM (#56853442)

    Duplex instantly raised questions over the ethics and privacy implications of using an AI assistant to hold lifelike conversations for you

    That's some amazing AI if it's raising questions about its own use

    • That's some amazing AI if it's raising questions about its own use

      I think this will be another "Glasshole Moment" for Google.

      Maybe the technology is interesting . . . but it will be very annoying to too many folks.

  • by Merk42 ( 1906718 ) on Wednesday June 27, 2018 @09:30AM (#56853470)
    Just change the goals of the Duplex bot and watch the technology really take off.
  • by Anonymous Coward

    Tay 2.0 incoming, in
    3...
    2...
    1...

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Google aren't stupid enough to allow their AI to be trained on Twitter.

  • by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Wednesday June 27, 2018 @09:32AM (#56853482)

    Never go Full Duplex.

  • Who wants to participate in a betting pool as to when this tech will be used in commercially available sexbots?

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Google provides these services so that people will help them build their panopticon. I can't wait for Google to have an extensive speech corpus which they can use to impersonate anyone...

  • The crappy recordings are easy to spot and hang up on at this point. If they can set this up to naturally respond to a human on the other end of the line, it'll greatly increase the efficiency of the robocalling businesses. What a terrific way to waste someone's time! Amazing technology!

  • It's Google Glass all over again. The folks running this program are looking at it as a technological curiosity, not how it could be integrated into society.
  • ... I can't get the picture of Bart Simpson using this to lodge crank calls out of my head.

  • by Actually, I do RTFA ( 1058596 ) on Wednesday June 27, 2018 @12:25PM (#56854596)

    It's not a "public" test in any sense of the word. It's a test between whitelisted earlier adopters on both sides of the call.

    By that definition, I suppose my bank account routing numbers are "public" because several select institutions know them and communicate them to each other on my behalf.

  • Google is now going to put all the phone sex lines out of business too? "Hey Duplex, what are you wearing?"
  • to passing the Turing test?

Think of it! With VLSI we can pack 100 ENIACs in 1 sq. cm.!

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