Google's AI advances are equal parts worry and wonder

I laughed along with most of the audience at I/O 2018 when, in response to a restaurant rep asking it to hold on, Google Assistant said "Mmhmm". But beneath our mirth lay a sense of wonder. The demo of Google Duplex, "an AI system for accomplishing real-world tasks over the phone," was almost unbelievable. The artificially intelligent Assistant successfully made a reservation with a human being over the phone without the person knowing it wasn't real. It even used sounds like "umm," "uhh" and tonal inflections to create a more convincing, realistic cadence.