Google's Human-Sounding Phone Bot Is Coming To the Pixel Next Month (wired.com) 26
Google's human-sounding AI software that makes calls for you is coming to Pixel smartphones next month in select markets, like New York, Atlanta, Phoenix, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Google Duplex, as it is called, will be a feature of Google Assistant and, for now, will only be able to call restaurants without online booking systems, which are already supported by the assistant. Wired reports: A Google spokesperson told WIRED that the company now has a policy to always have the bot disclose its true nature when making calls. Duplex still retains the human-like voice and "ums," "ahs," and "umm-hmms" that struck some as spooky, though. Nick Fox, the executive who leads product and design for Google search and the company's assistant, says those interjections are necessary to make Duplex calls shorter and smoother. "The person on the other end shouldn't be thinking about how do I adjust my behavior, I should be able to do what I normally do and the system adapts to that," he says.
Fox, the Google exec leading the project, pitches Duplex as a win-win. Google users will be freed from having to make phone calls to plan their outings; restaurants without online booking systems will gain new customers. "Those businesses lose out because people say 'Unless I can book this online I'm not going to book,'" he says. Some people closer to the restaurant business worry that Duplex might make calling restaurants too easy for Google users. Gwyneth Borden, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, a trade group for Bay Area restaurants, says people may use the technology to book multiple reservations and then flake out, or call restaurants over and over. Restaurants can opt out of receiving Duplex calls by speaking up during a call from Duplex, or through the website where businesses can manage listing information shown in Google's search and maps services. When calls go awry -- Fox says the "overwhelming majority" work out fine -- the software will alert an operator in a Google call center who takes over.
Fox, the Google exec leading the project, pitches Duplex as a win-win. Google users will be freed from having to make phone calls to plan their outings; restaurants without online booking systems will gain new customers. "Those businesses lose out because people say 'Unless I can book this online I'm not going to book,'" he says. Some people closer to the restaurant business worry that Duplex might make calling restaurants too easy for Google users. Gwyneth Borden, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, a trade group for Bay Area restaurants, says people may use the technology to book multiple reservations and then flake out, or call restaurants over and over. Restaurants can opt out of receiving Duplex calls by speaking up during a call from Duplex, or through the website where businesses can manage listing information shown in Google's search and maps services. When calls go awry -- Fox says the "overwhelming majority" work out fine -- the software will alert an operator in a Google call center who takes over.
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Re:Can't wait for the first denial of serice (Score:2)
It's where the baseball sounds come from.
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The major restaurants already sell all of that data. It's amazing what you can buy if you dig into the demographics data market.
If you're concerned, simply don't use the assistant or any online system (or even a direct phone call unless you block your number) to make your reservations, always pay cash at any restaurant (or any other chain business since they all track their sales to your cards which are easily linked to your identity these days), turn the location data off on your phone, and don't utilize t
Loss of business? (Score:3)
"Those businesses lose out because people say 'Unless I can book this online I'm not going to book,'"
And if I were a business owner I would say fine! We don't need your pretentious ass darkening our doorway. The punter likely would be more bother than they are worth.
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And likely, those people are going to be flakes anyways.
Restaurants are finding that online bookings are terrible for business - they're finding people would book a reservation and never show up (which costs the business money since that table c
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That's exactly what the Duplex-based Call Screening [arstechnica.com] feature does, that they also announced.
Are people so anti-social in 2018... (Score:4, Interesting)
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I'm guessing restaurants are just the first step. I can see this being very useful when trying to find a place to stay. One call wouldn't be a problem, but often I have to make a dozen to find a free room at reasonable prices. Many small hotels don't put information about available rooms and prices online, so having a bot robocall all of them in an area and build a list of possibilities would be nice.
Greetings fellow human (Score:1)