Google Using Humans in Duplex too

Reminds me again of our early use of what we called 'concierge' methods for chatbot implementations.  That is, using a combination of logic-AI-learning and humans to provide exactly the right solution, based on context and complexity.    And then evaluating each interaction for later adaptation.  Make lots of sense to tune results to the right resource.  Below also, new hints about what Google is doing with Duplex.

Google Duplex is Using Humans to Make Restaurant Reservations and Not Just AI In Duplex.ai

The New York Times reported yesterday that Google Duplex is using humans to make restaurant reservations, at least in some circumstances. Google Duplex was introduced into four locations in November 2018 and then expanded to 43 states in March 2019. The service can make phone calls on behalf of a user to perform tasks such as making restaurant reservations, setting hair salon appointments, and inquiring about hours of operation for retailers. Making a restaurant reservation is the first of these use cases to roll out broadly and previous reporting confirmed the use of the Google Duplex assistant, an AI-enabled bot, to book tables.

GOOGLE DIDN’T REVEAL THE USE OF HUMANS FOR DUPLEX
However, there was never an indication by Google that humans were in the loop for any of these activities. Google stunned many observers when it demonstrated the service in May 2018 to its I/O developer conference audience. The humanlike sound and speech patterns were better than people expected and the AI appeared to be agile enough to manage even non-linear conversation as long as the domain, such as appointment setting, was limited. Google’s goal is to take care of mundane tasks for users so, in theory, a user would not care whether it is a human or an AI-based bot executing the activity. Using a human is an expensive way to complete the task. The bigger story is that Google was not forthcoming about the state of the technology.   By Bret Kinsella     ... "