Robot Telemarketer Denies Being A Robot

Just when you thought that humans have perfected the art of being in denial, along comes this particular robot telemarketer who actually denies being a robot. TIME Washington Bureau Chief Michael Scherer received a phone call recently, with an extremely engaging voice who intended to persuade Scherer to bite on a health insurance deal, but Scherer felt that something was not quite right. When asked point blank if “she” was an actual human being or a computer-operated robot voice, “she” claimed that she was real enough, followed by some laughter. Other tests proved to be “her” undoing, however, especially when she could not understand the question, “What vegetable is found in tomato soup?”

Apart from that, when “she” was asked multiple times as to what day of the week it was, all “she” could muster up was the excuse of a bad connection. TIME reporters decided to spend the better part of the next hour to call “her” back, and the robot claimed “she” was Samantha West, with her main goal in life not to terminate John Connor, but to ask a bunch of questions concerning health coverage with hopes of closing a sale after transferring an all too eager customer to an actual person. Creepy, don’t you think so? Definitely not as helpful as the Yana and Bo robots.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Robots
Tags: AI (Artificial Intelligence)