Google's creepy AI phone call feature will disclose it's a robot, after backlash

Google Duplex, the human-sounding AI assistant that can make phone calls for you, stunned us when it was demoed earlier this week.

While impressive, Duplex has also received backlash in the past few days, leaving Google to stress about transparency in the technology, reports CNET.

“We are designing this feature with disclosure built-in, and we’ll make sure the system is appropriately identified,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement via email.

“What we showed at I/O was an early technology demo, and we look forward to incorporating feedback as we develop this into a product.” 

It’s unclear how Google intends to make those disclosures. As per Google’s demo, which involved the AI assistant making a supposedly real call to book an appointment at a hair salon, there was no indication the call was from a computer. 

And unlike the voices of current AI assistants which give off their robot origins, Duplex sounded natural. The use of speech disfluencies, like the “ums” and “hmms” in the call, and the small delays in conversation accurately mimics human speech.

That led to criticism by the likes of technology sociologist Zeynep Tufekci, who described the AI assistant “ethically lost” on Twitter, given the use of computers to deceive real humans by sounding like them.

Others on Twitter shared the concern, or considered it part of the stride toward effective, ingrained AI assistants. 

The Washington Post asked “what the heck are we getting ourselves into,” noting the effects it could have on low-wage workers, and the ability the technology has to hoax people. 

For what it’s worth, Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai appears to welcome the discussion about Duplex’s ethics.

“It’s clear that technology can be a positive force and improve the quality of life for billions of people around the world. But it’s equally clear that we can’t just be wide-eyed about what we create,” he wrote in a blog post.

“There are very real and important questions being raised about the impact of technology and the role it will play in our lives. We know the path ahead needs to be navigated carefully and deliberately—and we feel a deep sense of responsibility to get this right.”