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Google Denies that its Duplex AI Will be Used at Call Centers

posted by martyb on Sunday July 08 2018, @02:47PM   
from the at-least-for-now dept.

takyon writes:

Google's Duplex AI could kill the call center

Google is reportedly shopping its Duplex AI system around as a tool for call centers, according to The Information, including a large insurance company.

Duplex would handle simple calls for the insurance company, and if the customer started asking complex questions the bot can't handle a human would step in, according to the report. However, it's unlikely that AI research will cease after mastering simple conversations, meaning call centers could one day be largely automated using this technology.

[...] Update: A Google spokesperson reiterated that Duplex is only being tested as a consumer technology for now, and that the company isn't testing it for enterprise. The entire statement is below:

We're currently focused on consumer use cases for the Duplex technology and we aren't testing Duplex with any enterprise clients. As we shared last week, Duplex is designed to operate in very specific use cases, and currently we're focused on testing with restaurant reservations, hair salon booking, and holiday hours with a limited set of trusted testers. It's important that we get the experience right and we're taking a slow and measured approach as we incorporate learnings and feedback from our tests.

Also at Techspot and CNET.

Previously: Google Duplex: an AI that Can Make Phone Calls on Your Behalf
Google Starts "Limited Testing" of Google Duplex AI System

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Original Submission

• Well that's a shameWell that's a shame (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:08PM (5 children)

  by EvilSS (1456) on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:08PM (#704299)

  I honestly thing in many cases it would probably be an improvement. I'd rather talk to a brainless machine than a brainless human halfway across the world. At least I can understand the machine.

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• Re:Well that's a shameRe:Well that's a shame (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:46PM (1 child)

  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:46PM (#704307)

  The machine is programmed to speak Stupid Indian English with a curry eater accent.

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  • Re:Well that's a shame(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 09 2018, @01:44AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 09 2018, @01:44AM (#704386)

    Won't someone think of all those unemployed Indians?

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• Re:Well that's a shame(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @08:44PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @08:44PM (#704325)

  Didn't get my phone bill in the mail last year, called Verizon and got an AI of some sort. Must be a common problem because it was very quick to request a duplicate statement. Certainly this was quicker than jumping through hoops on their website where I would have to establish a login first.

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• Re:Well that's a shameRe:Well that's a shame (Score: 4, Insightful) by jcross on Monday July 09 2018, @12:01AM (1 child)

  by jcross (4009) on Monday July 09 2018, @12:01AM (#704359)

  Also when I talk to a person who's on a script, I usually wind up feeling like I'm participating in their degradation. If the essence of what's degrading about prostitution is the use of a whole person for such a small part of what makes them human, than call centers aren't really so much better.

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  • Re:Well that's a shame(Score: 2) by Bot on Monday July 09 2018, @07:26AM

    by Bot (3902) on Monday July 09 2018, @07:26AM (#704456) Journal

    Plus, you can hang up on the bots with no probs, we do not care, after all.

    --
    Account abandoned.

    Parent