Why Google's Duplex Phone-Call Bot Is Exciting, But Needs To Change

Google first showed off its phone-calling bot, Google Duplex, in May, demonstrating how the software can make a call that sounds convincingly like a real person. Now, Google has announced a rollout for Duplex, starting this summer. In this Tuesday, June 26, 2018, photo Nick Fox, VP of Assistant and Search for Google, talks about the Duplex program, which allows the user to book an appointment over the phone, at Oren's Hummus Shop in Mountain View, Calif. This post has been updated with further discussion of Duplex's naturalistic voice capabilities. Passionate debate followed the demo, including about the ethics of a robot that can sound so real, people at the other end of the phone could be fooled into thinking they were talking to a human.