Featured Image Credit: Getty stock/ Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Technology, TikTok, Viral, Tesla
Katherine Sidnell
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Technology, TikTok, Viral, Tesla
Halloween might be a few months away yet, but people have been getting spooked a little early this year thanks to some new AI technology.
Rather than showing computer-generated gore though, the short clip which has surfaced online shows a conversation between a man and an AI salesperson – which is creepily uncanny.
In fact, the audio is so realistic that it has some people scared for their jobs. Take a look for yourself:
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Doubling as a salesperson for Tesla, the tech - courtesy of company Air AI - chats to customer James in a friendly and professional manner, even booking him in for a test drive.
While we don’t doubt that Elon Musk would highly approve of this clever tech, it’s pretty creepy to hear the AI sound so similar to a human.
Earlier on in the video, the computer-generated voice assumes the name ‘Alexander’ and in a calm tone reveals why it’s calling about completing an order.
As human user James says he was just ‘shopping around’ for a luxury car, the AI then fakes empathy.
It says: “Gothca…that makes sense. Sometimes we’re just exploring our options before making a decision and I totally respect that.”
While you think it’s just repeating from a list of pre-programmed answers, think again.
Later in the demo call, the AI creepily talks about ‘making some fresh changes’ after James reveals he’s recently moved to a new apartment.
After watching the TikTok by user @donnellycss, which has over three million views so far, many shared their concerns, including those who are convinced the clever tech is about to replace our jobs.
“Sooner or later, AI might take over call centres, a lot of agents will lose their jobs. It’s not impossible anymore,” wrote one creeped-out user, while another simply called it ‘spooky stuff’.
However, not everyone was so impressed with the AI, with some noting the long pauses and mono-tone delivery.
One commenter argued that the point wasn’t to be 100 percent realistic but enough to replace workers.
They wrote: “All these people on about how convincing it isn’t. It doesn’t need to be convincing. It simply needs to function to replace us.”
Another argued that the tech would only improve, writing: “Everyone’s that’s like “sounds like an AI”. Yeah. That’s the point. It’s been out for less than a year so far. Just wait”
While it might sound a bit sci-fi-like right now, the company behind Air AI has said that the system can deliver calls up to 40 minutes long with thousands of rep voices at users' disposal.
The website adds that its agents don’t have to be ‘trained, managed or motivated’ and have 'infinite memory, perfect recall, and can autonomously take actions across 5,000 plus applications'.
Best smash those sale targets then, if you want to keep your job...