- Google has launched a new artificial intelligence experiment calling companies
- You can find prices and availability, then summarize the information
- It is limited to car stores and nail rooms for now
It is possible to remember Duplex, the Google Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool that would call companies and make reservations in his name using a highly realistic voice. Well, now the giant of the search has returned with another very similar offer that gives a completely new meaning to the term “robocalling.”
This time, Google’s service is called Ask for me. The idea is that you can do heavy work by directly calling companies to obtain information about prices, availability and more based on what you want to discover.
Ask for me is part of the Google experimental laboratories division. Google gives the example of looking for terms such as “oil change” or “nail rooms nearby”, and it seems that it is limited to car stores and nail rooms for now. After searching, you can say that you will ask me what you want to know about the company, then the AI will call the business and discover the information you are looking for. When the call ends, it will send a summary of prices and availability.
According to Rose Yao, leader of Google products in San Francisco, “this is using the same underlying duplex technology that is used to make restaurant reservations through the search/maps.” That suggests that duplex and requests me are essentially two sides of the same AI currency, with duplex focusing on restaurants and asks me to help me get more information from local companies.
How to use me
The idea behind asking me is to save time making the call while doing something else. At this time, it works in desk and mobile. Keep in mind that you must access it through the Chrome web browser and must be based on a country that works with Google Labs (this includes the United States but excludes Europe, for example).
To start, go to the ASK for me website and select the Liste Lista button. Once you have been given access, you can try to find tasks or businesses (such as the examples of Google listed above).
When you do that, you will see a box entitled Ask for Me on the page. Select the Start button, choose the service you need and choose next, add some more details and tell Google when you need the service, then enter your phone number or email address. Google says you must get an answer in 30 minutes.
Yao added that requesting me reveals that his calls are made by an AI, and companies may choose not to participate if they wish. Even so, it is not clear how companies will react when receiving calls from an incredibly realistic AI that is almost indistinguishable from a human. Time will say it about that.
