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Can you explain your views on the ethics? I think it is a little creepy, but ethically? You're conducting the same activity in the same way you would have done
by Someone1234 9y ago
Can you explain your views on the ethics?
I think it is a little creepy, but ethically? You're conducting the same activity in the same way you would have done yourself, but now more conveniently. The recipient still has the same experience either way.
My biggest concern about this is that it could be used at scale for "evil" (e.g. junk calls).
- ksk 9y agoI don't know if its completely unethical, but I do think its a little dehumanizing to deny someone human interaction, when using means that only humans can employ. i.e. If it sent a clearly marked automated email its one thing, but imagine having this contraption call your mom to wish her on her birthday...
- bertil 9y agoI don’t think that Google has plans to train that system on individual’s voice. I’m not sure what the scale for doing that reliably would be.
- michaelt 9y ago1. Making automated, unsolicited robocalls is unethical. 2. This is an automated, unsolicited robocall.
- wyldfire 9y agoWhy do you describe the calls as "unsolicited"?
- mywittyname 9y agoExactly. Calling a business for the purposes of buying their product is the definition of solicited. That's literally the reason they have phones.
- michaelt 9y agoBecause the restaurant did not explicitly opt in to receiving robocalls?
- kristianc 9y ago> 1. Making automated, unsolicited robocalls is unethical. I'd say that any restaurant or salon that treats a customer booking a table or an appointment as 'unsolicited' might not stay in business for very long.
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoI can see it going the other way: Robo-booking being used by people who simple put an entry in their own diary - the robot doing the booking and interaction. The human potential client has used minimal resources and because of the ease of use and lack of interaction will not perceive a cost in the making of the booking. I anticipate they'll change, cancel, noshow at a far higher rate than in-person bookers. Bookings made might then both block other customers and potentially increase the cost to the supplier of administrating the booking [particularly with a micro-business where the supplier end is an actual person].
- kristianc 9y agoThere's not a great deal more friction involved in making a booking via OpenTable (no financial cost, no deposit etc).
- fixermark 9y agoThe law and philosophy around automated, unsolicited robocalls is related to telemarketing. It's telemarketing practice that people became so frustrated with that the Do Not Call List was enacted. This, in contrast, is automated deal-making, targeting phone calls at businesses that want to close a deal. The context is entirely different.
- badosu 9y agoPerhaps a case for robots.txt for phones? Of course malicious behaviour will not comply, but would at least filter the mainstream products.
- kristianc 9y agoMy bigger concern would be social engineering attacks. Once you have something that can reliably imitate a human, the potential to do social engineering at scale really takes off.