Google is vague with disclosure in the first real Duplex calls

Google has begun to roll out its futuristic duplex feature, which can automatically place voice calls to restaurants and other businesses on behalf of a user, to a small group of pixel owners in "select" cities in the United States . VentureBeat managed to test the Duplex mode in the real world and record the experience experienced when launching a call via Google Assistant. This part seems pretty simple. However, the exchange between the artificial voice of Google talking to artificial intelligence and a restaurant on the other side of the conference raises some concerns about transparency – but that's not quite what you think .

Watch the video above and you'll notice that Duplex never identifies as a robot. It never tells the person who is taking the call that it interacts with an automated system. "Hello, I'm calling to make a reservation for a client. I'm calling from Google, so the call can be registered, "says Duplex to start the conversation. And this little detail – about the call coming from "Google" and potentially registered – is the only disclosure provided to date. From now on, Duplex will take care of the reservation of the requested dinner.

This disclosure does not correspond to a promotional video for Duplex that Google posted on YouTube in June. In this example (built in below), Duplex makes it very clear that this is a bot. "Hello, I'm the Google assistant who's calling to make a reservation for a customer.This automated call will be recorded." It's a much better approach.You talk to the Google assistant.It's a automated call, and it is to be registered – no maybes about it. Credit to Luther Lowe for calling the disparity.

But there is a reason for this: this Duplex call was passed by a human. People familiar with the first tests tell The Verge that when a human operator from Google makes a call, he does not reveal anything about Google Assistant and does not notice that it's about 39, an automated call, because this is not the case.

"I call from Google" however remains extremely vague and could easily lead to somebody assuming that the customer who gets this booking is someone who works for Google. Google said that every time a bot would talk to someone, it would clearly hear that the call was automated, much like the promotional video.

After Google's first revelation on Duplex and the stunning effect of its stunning demo, users quickly expressed their concerns about disclosure. When a robot can sound as close to a real person – by adding "um" and "uh" to reinforce the illusion, there must be a very direct and immediate explanation of Duplex. Just saying "I'm calling from Google" – even if it's a person who is speaking – is a bit short of that.

"We understand and appreciate the discussion around Google Duplex.As we have said from the beginning, the transparency of technology is important," said a spokesman for Google. The edge back in May. "We are designing this feature with the integrated disclosure function, and we will ensure that the system is appropriately identified."