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It’s hilarious that Google think an agent in a call centre that’s working to a revenue target will wait while you answer the phone. Almost as hilarious as the

It’s hilarious that Google think an agent in a call centre that’s working to a revenue target will wait while you answer the phone. Almost as hilarious as the Duplex demo when Duplex called the hair salon and booked an appointment. How it actually would have gone: Duplex: dial +15556789012 Salon: Hello, how can I help? Duplex: I’d like to book an appointment for next week, what times are available? Hair salon: who do you normally have? Duplex: Melanie Hair Salon: Melanie’s amazing isn’t she, she has so many clients. She’s off at the moment because she’s in Bermuda with her new boyfriend - he’s so hot, hey Natalie is taking on her clients, you might have met her - she usually does blow dries. Duplex: [ERROR] I’d like to book with Melanie. Hair salon: She’s in Bermuda. I just said that, Natalie can fit you in at 3:15 on Thursday. Is that ok? Duplex: is that with Melanie? Hair salon: No. Duplex: ok, bye.

lern_too_spel 6y ago
That feature launched years ago. Presumably, it works or I would have seen lots of blog posts complaining about it.
- jfoster 6y ago
  I found a video of a restaurant receiving a booking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_FuvIwSxT4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_FuvIwSxT4
  - elliottinvent 6y ago
    Sure, but that’s the happy path and a simple example. What about when the restaurant says something unexpected, as humans do: “We’ve just taken delivery of some great lobsters but we need 24 hours notice if you’re ordering a full one, would you like to pre-order?” “due to social distancing, I need to let you know that we greet diners at the door now so please don’t come into the restaurant until you’ve been greeted.” etc (probably bad examples but you get the idea) My point is, the only way this works reliably is when the call recipient knows they’re talking to a machine and act accordingly. It’s what we all already do to communicate with call centre AI. Of course I see the benefit of another thing making the reservation, I just don’t think a synthesised voice calling a human is anywhere close to the best way to do it. It will cause problems and inconvenience for businesses until Google offer them a tool to answer the phone. Then that’ll be an even worse experience.
    - jfoster 6y ago
      Those seem like good examples. It's a valid point, but presumably Duplex has (or can have) a catch-all response to anything it doesn't understand, such as "oh, I'll need to check about that... can I call you back?"

lern_too_spel 6y ago

That feature launched years ago. Presumably, it works or I would have seen lots of blog posts complaining about it.

jfoster 6y ago
I found a video of a restaurant receiving a booking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_FuvIwSxT4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_FuvIwSxT4
- elliottinvent 6y ago
  Sure, but that’s the happy path and a simple example. What about when the restaurant says something unexpected, as humans do: “We’ve just taken delivery of some great lobsters but we need 24 hours notice if you’re ordering a full one, would you like to pre-order?” “due to social distancing, I need to let you know that we greet diners at the door now so please don’t come into the restaurant until you’ve been greeted.” etc (probably bad examples but you get the idea) My point is, the only way this works reliably is when the call recipient knows they’re talking to a machine and act accordingly. It’s what we all already do to communicate with call centre AI. Of course I see the benefit of another thing making the reservation, I just don’t think a synthesised voice calling a human is anywhere close to the best way to do it. It will cause problems and inconvenience for businesses until Google offer them a tool to answer the phone. Then that’ll be an even worse experience.
  - jfoster 6y ago
    Those seem like good examples. It's a valid point, but presumably Duplex has (or can have) a catch-all response to anything it doesn't understand, such as "oh, I'll need to check about that... can I call you back?"