Google wants to field Assistant to counter the onslaught of scam calls. Artificial intelligence will answer the phone for us
If in Italy calls from call centers are a nuisance, with telephone operators who want to sell us everything from energy to telephony, passing through mattresses, in the United States perhaps they are even worse because of the so-called "robocalls".
That is, automated calls: we answer the phone and on the other side there is a pre-recorded voice that, at best, wants to sell us something, while at worst wants to cheat us. In the U.S. robocalls are an increasingly serious problem, so that Google itself is moving to find a solution. Which passes, of course, by artificial intelligence and, therefore, by Google Assistant that, in the not too distant future, will be able to answer on our behalf to these calls and manage them in the best way. According to Hiya's "Global Robocall Radar" report, scam calls made by software in 2018 totaled 85 billion globally, mostly in the United States. This phenomenon, however, is also growing alarmingly in Europe, including Italy.
Google Assistant Vs Call Center
The feature, according to Business Insider, will come first to the Pixel and then to other smartphones running Android 10. The Phone app will work in tandem with Assistant, which will analyze all incoming calls. If the call comes from a suspicious number (something Google already understands on the Pixel), it will be "turned" to Assistant, which will answer it for us. Only if the artificial intelligence understands that, on the other end of the phone, there is a person in flesh and blood then it will "pass" the call to the user. In the meantime, however, Assistant will show it a transcript of the call made with the call center.
Xiaomi already does this
Android's new anti-robocall feature looks a lot like Inter-Finger Call, the feature Xiaomi is testing in China. Xiao Ai, Xiaomi's voice assistant, is used to answer all calls and notify you that the user can't answer. In the meantime, it provides a transcript of the call and allows the user to send messages such as "I'll call you later" or similar. Google's feature, on the other hand, simply takes over calls when they come from an automated call center. But, in essence, the technology to do this is very similar to what Xiaomi is testing in China.