Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Friday 29 June 2018
Google prepping its Duplex bot for a summer rollout

By RYAN NAKASHIMA vice, so I'll record the call.
Technology Writer Um, can I book a table for
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) Saturday, the 30th?"
— When Google first intro- AP: "Uh, ok, but what if I
duced its phone-calling don't want the call to be
digital concierge Duplex recorded?"
in May, some thought it Duplex: "Ok, uh we'll call
sounded too human. Oth- you back on an unrecord-
ers worried that it would ed line."
secretly record calls with A human operator called
people. back within minutes, com-
The search giant says it has pleted the booking and
been working to address said the restaurant would
these concerns. be opted out of receiving
For starters, Google says Duplex calls in the future.
that the bot will identify it- John Havens, executive di-
self as an automated as- rector for the IEEE's Global
sistant upfront and will Initiative on Ethics of Au-
disclose that it's recording tonomous and Intelligent
calls. Human operators will Systems, says Duplex's up-
be standing by as backup front disclosure leaves him
should a call go off the rails. "deeply encouraged."
As for Duplex's tendency to In this Tuesday, June 26, 2018, photo Oren Dobronsky, right, owner of Oren's Hummus Shop As people interact more
use speech fillers like "ums" demonstrates the Duplex program, which allows the user to book an appointment over the with artificially intelligent
and "ahs," Google notes phone, alongside Valerie Nygaard, left, product manager for Google, in Mountain View, Calif. systems, they need to be
Associated Press
that this technique im- given clear choices about
proved the assistant's abil- Google's vice president of Now, Duplex can success- Duplex online, although how they are willing to do
ity to book appointments engineering for the Google fully book hair appoint- that means Duplex won't so, he said. "You hung up
by interacting more natu- Assistant, told reporters. To ments, make restaurant res- update information on and a human called back.
rally with humans on the demonstrate the point, he ervations or check holiday Google Maps after veri- If this becomes the norm,
other end of the line. played a recording of an business hours — the only fying information such as that's great."
The search giant provided early Duplex prototype in tasks it is programmed to business hours. People who Duplex's initial rollout will
these and other details in which a computerized, Brit- complete — four out of five ask Duplex to place calls only cover questions about
a demonstration for report- ish-accented male voice times without intervention can limit what it shares with holiday and weekend
ers Tuesday ahead of the tried to book a restaurant by humans. businesses — for instance, hours in the coming weeks,
system's gradual rollout this reservation for four, and And it identifies itself in a by keeping their email ad- and will be limited to a se-
summer. filled an awkward silence few different ways. In one dress private. lect group of testers and
The company is taking with an off-kilter "Hello." sample call, Duplex began, In a test of Duplex, an Asso- businesses. The ability to
great pains to assure that "The system didn't sound "Hi, I'm calling to make a ciated Press reporter acted book restaurants or hair ap-
Duplex conforms to a set very good," Huffman said. reservation. I'm Google's as a restaurant employee pointments will follow later
of principles around artifi- "People would hang up on automated booking ser- and objected to the call this summer.
cial intelligence it released it. They got uncomfortable vice, so I'll record the call." being recorded. Google Google's main focus is on
earlier this month. Among with the conversation. The In another, it starts, "Hi I'm didn't allow audio or video small businesses that don't
them: only develop tools team began to iterate on, the Google Assistant, call- recording of the demo to accept online reserva-
that are socially beneficial 'How do we make it sound ing to make a reservation be shared, but the tran- tions through apps such
and that incorporate pri- more natural?' As they did for a client. This automated script went like this: as Open Table, which the
vacy by design. that, with every step, we call will be recorded." Duplex: "Hi, I'd like to make Google Assistant will use to
"We're not trying to trick found that our success rate Businesses can opt out a reservation. I'm Google's book instead of Duplex if it's
people," Scott Huffman, went up." of accepting calls from automated booking ser- available.q
Kroger to test grocery

Deliveries with driverless cars

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — wrong. ery service will start by the
Kroger Co. is about to Cincinnati-based Kroger is end of this year.The loca-
test whether it can steer teaming up with Nuro, a Sil- tion of the delivery service
supermarket customers icon Valley startup found- hasn't been determined
away from crowded gro- ed two years ago by two yet either, although it most
cery aisles with a fleet of engineers who worked on likely will involve Fry's su-
diminutive driverless cars self-driving cars at Google. permarkets in California
designed to lower delivery That Google project is now or Arizona, said Nuro co-
costs. known as Waymo, which founder Dave Ferguson.
The test program an- plans to introduce a ride- Customers will be able to
nounced Thursday could hailing service that is sup- order groceries from a mo-
This undated photo provided by The Kroger Co. shows a make Kroger the first U.S. posed to begin picking up bile app, much like people
driverless car that the Cincinnati-based company is about to grocer to make deliver- passengers in fully autono- summon an Uber or Lyft
test whether it can steer supermarket customers away from ies with robotic cars that mous cars by the end of ride.
crowded grocery aisles with a fleet of diminutive driverless won't have a human rid- this year. The vehicles will probably
cars designed to lower delivery costs.
Associated Press ing along to take control Like Waymo, Kroger is only be opened with a numeric
in case something goes saying its self-driving deliv- code.q