Google Duplex: An AI System for Accomplishing Real World Tasks Over the Phone

Re:Google Duplex: An AI System for Accomplishing Real World ... by mrastro on Tuesday May 08, 2018 @10:50PM (#17027106)

If we accept your premise that bots become so close to humans that they are virtually indistinguishable, then at that point does it matter who the "person" on the other end of the line is? I'd argue it doesn't because the outcome would be the same.

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Re:Google Duplex: An AI System for Accomplishing Real World ... by nfoz on Tuesday May 08, 2018 @11:22PM (#17027211)

I think there will always be a difference. When I'm talking to someone, there's an emotional connection and responsiveness there. I'm trying to help a human out -- I'm putting effort into being polite, into considering their point of view etc.

If I found out that they were a robot (this is probably unpreventable; even if the technology gets amazing, surely there will be edge-case breakdowns/bugs/etc.), my trust is broken. That would have an emotional consequence e.g. frustration.

There will always be amazing technology wielded by awful developers, and in this case the outcome is emotionally hazardous. The impact of that is not easy to quantify e.g. by any economic indicators, but it's there.

Also, it's likely that robots will not be as polite back, so we're degrading society's trust and empathy all around. For example, Google's AI call to a restaurant was rude, and not for reasons it seems to yet understand.

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