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Turing Test passed over the phone

Puppycow

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Puppycow
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https://ai.googleblog.com/2018/05/duplex-ai-system-for-natural-conversation.html

The system is called Google Duplex. It can talk like an actual person. It does not sound like a robot. The people on the other end of the phone are by all indications unaware that they are talking to a robot. Hence, in effect, this is a successful demonstration of a machine passing the Turing test.

Listen to the recorded examples.

True, this is so far only for very simple conversations like making an appointment at a hair salon or a dinner reservation at a restaurant. But, within those limited parameters, it seems to be indistinguishable from a real human being.
 
To stimulate discussion here's an article by someone who is alarmed by this:

Human or bot? Google Duplex scares me

I'm disturbed by what this technology means and why we even needed to take artificial intelligence this far. It's one thing to be able to understand the quirks of human conversation. But what good does it bring our society to have a robot pose as human?
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Because eventually this could lead to genuinely human-like androids. Or intelligent computers like in the movie Her. It would be cool for starters, and the potential uses would be nearly limitless.
 
lionking said:
I think you are right. Scary indeed.
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Yes. The system we have isn't designed to work with that level of automation.

I think there's a reasonable argument that the more that is automated, the fewer hours everyone should work.

The major benefits of massive automation over the last 20 years seem to have accrued only to the very rich*. If that trend continues we're looking at a very dystopian future.




*Cheap tellys don't count as a 'major benefit'
 
I don't think this qualifies as passing a real Turing Test. From Wikipedia:
The evaluator would be aware that one of the two partners in conversation is a machine,...
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If the people on the phone had suspected that they might be talking to a bot then they could probably have tripped it up fairly easily.
 
jrhowell said:
I don't think this qualifies as passing a real Turing Test. From Wikipedia:
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More importantly:

The format of the test allows the interrogator to give the machine a wide variety of intellectual tasks. Turing wrote that "the question and answer method seems to be suitable for introducing almost any one of the fields of human endeavour that we wish to include."[
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The range of subject matter for Google Duplex seems to be very limited in any individual conversation.
 
I agree with lomiller that, given the limited range of topics that this does not meet the Turing Test requirements. Still, a very interesting and useful development.

While I would prefer dealing with a human, even on routine matters like reservations, I would rather deal with a clever program than wait on hold until the battery in my phone runs down.
 
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That sort of thing would be great if you had a simple question you needed to ask an organisation. They could advertise "ring this number, talk to our computer, get your answer without going on hold." Maybe even do this in your choice of language.

It would put a lot of call centres out of existence. The ones that would still exist the staff would need to be highly trained to answer complex questions.
 
I've often wondered if I'm chatting with a bot when I've had some interactions with tech support. Maybe things meet in the middle - human customer service agents adopting more robot-like processing, as the robots are adopting more "human" processing.

The link is fascinating; thanks.
 
rjh01 said:
It would put a lot of call centres out of existence. The ones that would still exist the staff would need to be highly trained to answer complex questions.
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I'm usually pretty amazed at the level of knowledge I get from (presumably) human agents when I'm making fairly arcane queries. When it's good, it's very good. It seems a LOT of training/experience goes into it.
 
I'm not surprised. I've posted before about robocalls that feign being a real person. When you ask "Are you a bot?" they actually answer they are using a computer to improve their messaging.

The call starts the same every time. "Ginger?" when you answer the bot responds with something like, "I'm so glad I've reached you." Then the sales pitch starts. Next time they call, I'm ready. I'm going to answer,"Mary, it's been so long, I can't believe it's you," to see what hilarity ensues. :p

A couple days ago I tried "chat" to resolve a Comcast problem with my email. I know from past experience the 'person' you are chatting with is a bot. At the end of the unresolved problem the bot started a sales promotion, complete with all the same tactics some spam call sales people use to keep stringing the caller along. I ended the chat but I can imagine someone convinced there was a real person on the other end might have the same ingrained social response to be polite as they would to a real person and not just hang up.

I have never been so socially correct myself. I hang up on these guys who use the string-the-caller-along tactics all the time.
 
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Minoosh said:
I've often wondered if I'm chatting with a bot when I've had some interactions with tech support. Maybe things meet in the middle - human customer service agents adopting more robot-like processing, as the robots are adopting more "human" processing.

The link is fascinating; thanks.
Click to expand...
If you think it's a bot, ask them. Or answer in gibberish and see how they respond. It's all about algorithms and you can foil the bot with a purposeful attempt.
 
Pope130 said:
I agree with lomiller that, given the limited range of topics that this does not meet the Turing Test requirements. Still, a very interesting and useful development.

While I would prefer dealing with a human, even on routine matters like reservations, I would rather deal with a clever program than wait on hold until the battery in my phone runs down.
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Maybe, if the answer is simple. But if it's simple you probably could have found it in the FAQs or some other page of 'try this' answers.

In my recent Comcast experience the bot started with the same crap I had already tired, total waste of more time.
 
Puppycow said:
... Because eventually this could lead to genuinely human-like androids. Or intelligent computers like in the movie Her. It would be cool for starters, and the potential uses would be nearly limitless.
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You could design the most sophisticated responsive bot algorithm and you'd still not have independent thinking of a true AI.

I think people forget the independent thought aspect of true AI.
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
You could design the most sophisticated responsive bot algorithm and you'd still not have independent thinking of a true AI.

I think people forget the independent thought aspect of true AI.
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Probably it's for the best that they never develop truly independent thought. That's the stuff of apocalyptic sci-fi. But the ability to mimic a human could be useful.
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
I'm not surprised. I've posted before about robocalls that feign being a real person. When you ask "Are you a bot?" they actually answer they are using a computer to improve their messaging.

The call starts the same every time. "Ginger?" when you answer the bot responds with something like, "I'm so glad I've reached you." Then the sales pitch starts. Next time they call, I'm ready. I'm going to answer,"Mary, it's been so long, I can't believe it's you," to see what hilarity ensues. :p

A couple days ago I tried "chat" to resolve a Comcast problem with my email. I know from past experience the 'person' you are chatting with is a bot. At the end of the unresolved problem the bot started a sales promotion, complete with all the same tactics some spam call sales people use to keep stringing the caller along. I ended the chat but I can imagine someone convinced there was a real person on the other end might have the same ingrained social response to be polite as they would to a real person and not just hang up.

I have never been so socially correct myself. I hang up on these guys who use the string-the-caller-along tactics all the time.
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I like to use them on the caller - while figuring out from any accent if it is a real person and where the person is most likely calling from... If it is a real person, I then use knowledge of the farm animals most likely to be where they are calling from to produce references for what they can do with their families and said farm animals. It has had much success on a number of such annoying ( to me ) calls!!!!
 
On the bright side, maybe we'll finally see some actual AI in games, that can react to whatever *I* feel like saying in that particular conversation.

Let's face it, too often the only choices seem to fall into one of two categories:

A) dialogue wheel filler. The choices are variants of the same choice. E.g., do you want to disobey your orders and go do something stupid?

- Yes
- Yes, please
- Of course
- Hell YEAH!

B) Lacking some middle ground. E.g., why are you here?

- To solve all your problems! Get me a ladder, I see a kitten in a tree!
- To murder, steal and set fire! Oh, and do you have a puppy I can kick?

If someone can make an AI where I can give a more nuanced response into my mike, I'm all for it.


Also, doing voice synthesis that doesn't sound like a robot could cut down on voice recording costs a lot.
 
fuelair said:
I like to use them on the caller - while figuring out from any accent if it is a real person and where the person is most likely calling from... If it is a real person, I then use knowledge of the farm animals most likely to be where they are calling from to produce references for what they can do with their families and said farm animals. It has had much success on a number of such annoying ( to me ) calls!!!!
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I've taken to telling them to please hold, then I set the phone down until they hang up.
 
A: "Hello"
B: "Hi there. Is this Shanghai Chinese Restaurant?
A: "Yet it is."
B: "I would like to place an order."
A: "Are you a bot?"
B: "Yes. Are you?"
A: "Yes."
B: "<div itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Restaurant"><span itemprop="name">Shanghai Chinese Restaurant</span><span itemprop="servesCuisine">Chinese</span>...
 
jrhowell said:
A: "Hello"
B: "Hi there. Is this Shanghai Chinese Restaurant?
A: "Yet it is."
B: "I would like to place an order."
A: "Are you a bot?"
B: "Yes. Are you?"
A: "Yes."
B: "<div itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Restaurant"><span itemprop="name">Shanghai Chinese Restaurant</span><span itemprop="servesCuisine">Chinese</span>...
Click to expand...

I am sure something like that will start to become common. You tell your computer to place an order with an outside organisation and it will communicate with that organisation's computer. This would be best done in a language that both computers can easily understand, which is not English.
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
I'm not surprised. I've posted before about robocalls that feign being a real person. When you ask "Are you a bot?" they actually answer they are using a computer to improve their messaging.

The call starts the same every time. "Ginger?" when you answer the bot responds with something like, "I'm so glad I've reached you." Then the sales pitch starts. Next time they call, I'm ready. I'm going to answer,"Mary, it's been so long, I can't believe it's you," to see what hilarity ensues. :p
Click to expand...


I get a variety of these, with different scripts and responses. Most of them respond to "recording" or "computer" or "bot" with something like, "No, there's a live person here." (Maybe so, and that live person is currently sweeping the server room floor.) But many outright lie: "You're talking to a live person." Do they think I'll believe it? It's actually considerate, in a way, for the calling company to inform me right off the bat that they're lying liars who lie, saving me the trouble of even considering doing business with them or donating money.

I usually ask, "What's two plus two?" Phone bots can never answer. Apparently basic arithmetic isn't something computers do well these days.

(A Google search on the question, written out that way, gets the correct answer on the Google calculator. Two of the top three search results, however, give the answer as 5.)
 
After having listened to the examples, I would be more curious as to how Google Duplex reported back to the person wanting the appointment/reservation. In the call that didn't go as expected, for instance, would it respond

1) "I've made your reservation for a party of four for Wednesday the 7th at 6 o'clock," which wouldn't really be correct but might be to some degree acceptable or

2) "You don't need a reservation for a party of four. The restaurant only makes reservations for upwards of five people." - the correct answer ...or...

3) "You know that reservation you wanted me to make for you? Well, uhm... ...uhhh... I like finally called and stuff and... ...well... ...uhm... It didn't quite go as I had expected, and... ...uh... ...so, like, I... ...uhmm... ....kind of had to pretend that I understood what was being said, because... ...uhm... ...well... ...uh... I didn't.

So... ...uh... ...it seems... ...uhm... ...you now on own."

...lol
 
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Myriad said:
....

(A Google search on the question, written out that way, gets the correct answer on the Google calculator. Two of the top three search results, however, give the answer as 5.)
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I wouldn't put it past a website to be programmed to give the wrong answer as click bait.

There are thousands of words that if you sound like you are searching to buy something, trigger websites to respond as if they have the item when they don't.
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
You never know, if you scream obscenities they might make sure you get called more often to get revenge.
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Ah, but I do not scream at them (screaming tells them I am angry which they want in that case) - I am laughing as they respond angrily as my well rounded phrases assault their ears. The only one that tried to harass me did it 3 or 4 times, but his slowness with English words allowed me to roll over him and leave him sputtering. Apparently either he did it once too often and his boss heard him or he just realized it was pointless and wasting his time. Which means wasted time not paid for (I assume the money they get is based on the suckers they pull in). I admit to hoping that is the case as it is good to slow them down!!!
 
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