In a bid to deliver transparency in technology and stay ahead of ethical pitfalls, Google has said that its Artificial Intelligence (AI) calling system "Duplex" would now identify itself while making appointments.
Following the launch of the "Duplex" system, which lets AI mimic a human voice to make appointments and book tables, among other functions, a widespread outcry over the ethical dilemmas were raised by tech critics.
Google clarified to The Verge that the experimental system would have a "disclosure built-in" that means that whenever Duplex gets involved in some type of verbal communication with a human at the other end, it would identify that the human is talking to an AI.
"We understand and value the discussion around Google Duplex, as we have said from the beginning, transparency in the technology is important," a Google spokesperson was quoted as saying.
"We are designing this feature with disclosure built-in, and we will make sure the system is appropriately identified. What we showed at I/O was an early technology demo, and we look forward to incorporating feedback as we develop this into a product," the spokesperson added.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai introduced Duplex earlier this week in the company's annual developer's conference Google I/O and demonstrated how the AI system could book an appointment at a salon and a table at a restaurant.
In the demo, the Google Assistant sounded like a human. It used Google DeepMind's new WaveNet audio-generation technique and other advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP) to replicate human speech patterns.
However, tech critics raised questions on the morality of the technology saying it was developed without proper oversight or regulation.
According to tech critic Zeynep Tufekci, the demo was "horrifying" and the initial positive audience reaction at I/O was evidence that "Silicon Valley is ethically lost, rudderless and has not learned a thing".
Google had originally said in a blog post written by engineers Yaniv Leviathan and Yossi Matias that "it's important to us that users and businesses have a good experience with this service and transparency is a key part of that".
Salman house firing case: Mumbai cops fish out arms, ammunition from River Tapi in Surat
In a big breakthrough, the Mumbai Police have recovered some arms and ammunition that were reportedly used in the firing at the house of Bollywood megastar Salman Khan on April 14, official sources said on Tuesday.
NCP manifesto: Caste-based census, MSP for farmers
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which is now an ally of the NDA and the ruling partner in the MahaYuti government in Maharashtra, has demanded the caste-based census and Minimum Support Price for farmers.
Uddhav Thackeray skips INDIA bloc's rally in Ranchi, sends representative
Shiv Sena (UBT) President and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray skipped the INDIA bloc rally scheduled in Ranchi this evening, an aide said here on Sunday.
Congress, INDIA bloc against development & farmers: PM Modi says in Maharashtra
Criticising the Congress and the INDIA bloc, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the unwavering faith of the people in 'Modi's Guarantee' is giving sleepless nights to the Opposition alliance leaders.
Bitcoin scam case: ED attaches assets worth over Rs 97 cr of Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty
The attached properties include a residential flat in Juhu, which is in the name of Shilpa Shetty, another residential bungalow in Pune and equity shares in Raj Kundra's name.
Google sacks 28 employees involved in protests over Israel govt contract
Tech giant Google has laid off 28 employees who were involved in sit-in protests at its offices over a Google contract with the Israeli government.
Congress in Tripura blocks rail stations to protest police fired-killing of 5 farmers in MP
The firing on Tuesday came during raucous protests to demand better crop prices in the drought-ravaged region that saw one farmer suicide every five hours in the past two years.
DMs, SPs of violence-hit MP districts transferred
The farmers agitation entered its eighth day on Thursday. The peasants have been on strike since June 1, demanding loan waiver and fair price for their produce.