The artificial voices of Siri, Alexa, or Google, and their often awkward responses, leave no room for doubt that we are not talking to a real person. The latest technological breakthroughs that combine artificial intelligence with deceptively realistic human voices now make it possible for bots to pass themselves off as humans. This has led to new ethical issues: Is bots' impersonation of humans a case of deception? Previous research has shown that humans prefer not to cooperate with intelligent bots. But if people do not even notice that they are interacting with a machine and cooperation between the two is therefore more successful, would it not make sense to maintain the deception in some cases?

The artificial voices of Siri, Alexa, or Google, and their often awkward responses, leave no room for doubt that we are not talking to a real person. The latest technological breakthroughs that combine artificial intelligence with deceptively realistic human voices now make it possible for bots to pass themselves off as humans. This has led to new ethical issues: Is bots' impersonation of humans a case of deception? Previous research has shown that humans prefer not to cooperate with intelligent bots. But if people do not even notice that they are interacting with a machine and cooperation between the two is therefore more successful, would it not make sense to maintain the deception in some cases?

Philip K. Dick was living a few miles north of San Francisco when he wrote Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which envisioned a world where artificially intelligent androids are indistinguishable from humans. The Turing Test has been passed, and it's impossible to know who, or what, to trust. A version of that world will soon be a reality in San Francisco. Google announced this week that Duplex, the company's phone-calling AI, will be rolled out to Pixel phones in the Bay Area and a few other US cities before the end of the year. You might remember Duplex from a shocking demonstration back in May, when Google showed how the software could call a hair salon and book an appointment.