This Experimental Google Feature Lets You Send Robocalls to Local Businesses
lifehacker.com
Usually, its the businesses that are behind robocalls, but if you work at a nail salon or an auto repair shop, get ready for customers to start sending hordes of AI Karens your way.Googles latest experimental AI feature, available to those who sign up for Ask for me on Google Search Labs, is aiming to be a sort of personal AI secretary for you. Once enabled, itll pop up an Ask for me button under certain searches, promising to call local shops for you to help you figure out availability, service costs, and the like.Clicking the Ask for me button will take you to a form, where youll fill out, for example, the make and model of your car, what services you need, and when you can come in. Google will then canvass local shops (there doesnt seem to be an option to send a call only to a specific shop) and then email or text you back with results.On their end, business owners will hear a message at the start of every call indicating that its an automated system calling on behalf of a potential customer, Google spokesperson Craig Ewer told The Verge.If that sounds annoying, business owners can opt out, either within their Google Business Profile settings or by simply telling the AI not to call them back. For those that decide to humor the robocalls, Ewer told The Verge that Google is doing its best to ensure businesses dont get overloaded with calls, and will use information collected from prior calls to help answer future ones without bothering an employee.Over on X, Google product lead Rose Yao said Ask for me is powered by Duplex, an existing Google feature that (mostly) uses AI to make reservations on your behalf, but its more geared towards research than actually booking anything. As its still experimental, its limited to nail salons and auto shops for now, though it could presumably expand in the future.As someone with social anxiety, I can see the surface level appeal here, although Im not sure Id ever want to commit the sin of making someone else talk to a robot.
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