Would You Get So Excited if Google Duplex Called a Taxi Station to Book a Cab?
Google’s Duplex demo was breathtaking. A computer that talked like a human, said “umm” and “mm-hmm”, and booked a hair appointment over the phone. But for the sake of the discussion: Would you get so excited to see Google’s Assistant pick up the phone and call a local taxi station to book a cab? Don’t think so… I assume your first reaction would be: “That’s nice, but didn’t we solve that already with Uber?” And indeed it seems like Google’s Duplex can be a fine solution for yesterday’s problem . Today you reserve a table in a restaurant, order a taxi or a food delivery, without involving humans: using dedicated apps. These apps are optimized for the tasks they do best: They eliminate the need to make phone calls, wait in line, call again… They can be work in the background (during meetings, other activities, etc.) They maximize the probability to succeed with the booking (by checking availability, finding alternatives) They prov...