Google's voice-calling AI could handle your next insurance claim (updated)

While Google quietly removed the "don't do evil" clause from its mission statement, apparently work on this project has moved at a snail's pace due to ethical concerns stemming from Duplex's debut at I/O in May. Namely, that it wasn't clear if the hair salon or Chinese restaurant employees were aware that they were speaking to a synthesized human voice rather than a warm-blooded homo sapiens. Google later clarified that Duplex would disclose itself as an AI when making calls. Plenty of call centers are automated at this point, it's just that none of those robo-operators could pass the Turing test. While Duplex sounds like it absolutely did, Google says it isn't actively testing the tech with potential enterprise clients.