Google Testing Duplex in Call Centers

Google Duplex raised eyebrows with its maybe-too-lifelike chat capabilities when CEO Sundar Pichai demonstrated it at a conference. Now, The Information reports, “Some big companies are in the very early stages of testing Google’s technology for use in other applications, such as call centers, where it might be able to replace some of the work currently done by humans, according to a person familiar with the plans.”

The unnamed source says an insurance company is among the first to test Duplex in a call center capacity. However, Google is a tad late to this party, considering Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, Avaya, and Genesys all offer similar products. The Information suggests Google is focusing on the lifelikeness of Duplex to differentiate it from the crowd.