Google backtracks, now will tell people a robot is on the phone

Yes, it will let people know a robot is calling. At its I/O conference Tuesday, Google showed off Duplex, a new feature of the Google Assistant smartphone that will use a human-sounding robot to set up appointments at hair salons and restaurants. In the demo, the robot wasn't identified as such, and sounded totally human, to the point of adding "ums" and "ands" into the conversation. More: Should Google let businesses know their human-sounding robot is calling? This led to many critics saying that Duplex would be taking advantage of people by not informing them they were speaking to a robot.