---
title: "Many of Google Duplex’s “AI” Phone Calls Are Made By Humans"
description: "The New York Times reports that some 25 percent of Google's controversial AI-powered Duplex robo-callers actually turn out to be humans."
date: "2019-05-23"
modified: "2019-05-24"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/google-duplex-phone-calls-human"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
  - "Google"
tags:
  - "artificial intelligence"
  - "Google"
  - "google duplex"
  - "the digest"
---

# Many of Google Duplex’s “AI” Phone Calls Are Made By Humans

![The New York Times reports that some 25 percent of Google's controversial AI-powered Duplex robo-callers actually turn out to be humans.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/google-duplex-phone-calls-human.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## AI Cosplay

The *New York Times* [found that](<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/technology/personaltech/ai-google-duplex.html>) some 25 percent of Google's controversial AI-powered Duplex robo-callers actually turn out to be humans in call centers.

Google has come a long way in making their automated calling feature sound exactly like a real person, but the report shows that it still heavily relies on humans to perfect the system.

## Mr. Robot

Google's Duplex feature, [announced last year](<https://futurism.com/google-assistant-booked-haircut-duplex>), was created to help users make reservations by having an "assistant" — a robotic voice that can even "umm" and "uuuh" like a human — call the place of business on their behalf. Many previous [reports](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/restaurants-ignoring-calls-google-smart-assistant>) about the feature have argued that the experience is nearly indistinguishable from a real human on the line.

But as it turns out, some of those calls — roughly a quarter, as later confirmed by Google — start out with a human, not an AI, directing the dialogue. And 15 percent of all calls started with the AI, but end up with a human intervening at some point during the call.

## Deep Fakes

But that's not to understate how far Google has come in making the phone calls sound "real" when it was the company's Assistant software calling.

Everything was perfect," restaurant manager Jin Park told the *Times* after talking to one of the bots. "It’s like a real person talking."

**READ MORE:** [Google’s Duplex Uses A.I. to Mimic Humans (Sometimes)](<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/technology/personaltech/ai-google-duplex.html>) \[*The New York Times*\]

**More on Google Duplex:** *[Restaurants Are Ignoring Calls From Google's Smart Assistant](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/restaurants-ignoring-calls-google-smart-assistant>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)