Google has unleashed "Duplex" an experimental combination of AI and Chatterbox.
"The crowd was shocked, but the most impressive thing was that the person on the receiving end of the call didn’t seem to suspect they were talking to an AI. It’s a huge technological achievement for Google, but it also opens up a Pandora’s box of ethical and social challenges."
James Vincent -The Verge May 9th 2018
Like all applications of AI a mature product will address simple, predictable communication and work flows. As soon as it gets unpredictable or plain difficult homo sapien will take over.
It will have a role to free humans from the basic tasks so they can focus on empathetic engagement with customers. But before then, there are serious legal, cultural and ethical questions to ask and answer
But let’s start with the basics. Onstage, Google didn’t talk much about the details of how the feature, called Duplex, works, but an accompanying blog post adds some important context. First, Duplex isn’t some futuristic AI chatterbox, capable of open-ended conversation. As Google’s researchers explain, it can only converse in “closed domains” — exchanges that are functional, with strict limits on what is going to be said. “You want a table? For how many? On what day? And what time? Okay, thanks, bye.” Easy!