*By Alisha Haridasani*
New evidence suggests that Google's all-to-real sounding voice assistant may not be as life-like as it first seemed, raising questions about the status of the company's A.I. capabilities.
A [demo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd1mEm2Fy08) last month of the A.I.-powered Duplex voice assistant showed it interacting with humans to make a restaurant reservation and a haircut appointment. But some people are saying it was faked.
Axios’s Dan Primack [pointed out](https://www.axios.com/google-ai-demo-questions-9a57afad-9854-41da-b6e2-5e55b619283e.html) that the people picking up the calls in the two demos don't identify themselves, as is the norm when small businesses receive phone calls. There was also no ambient noise in the phone calls, and neither the hair salon or the restaurant asked for the caller’s phone number for the booking.
“The whole conceit of Google Duplex is that a robot would have a conversation with a human on the other end, potentially without a human having to jump in,” said Dana Wollman, executive editor at Engadget. “So people do want to feel that this interaction was real and authentic.”
The more likely scenario is that Google may have edited the recording, protecting the businesses or the privacy of the people who answered the call, said Wollman.
“I think it is still possible that it was based on a real exchange,” she said. “If I was in Google’s PR department I would probably want to be able to show a real working demo.”
Google hasn't directly responded on the record to journalists asking about the authenticity of the recordings.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/googles-duplex-dupe).
Virtual reality startup Sandbox VR recently announced it raised $37 million Series B funding round. It is a location-based VR company, a space that was hit hard during the pandemic. Sandbox was eventually forced to file for bankruptcy; however, the company is emerging from the pandemic with a fresh round of funding and plans to open new retail locations around the world. Sandbox VR CEO Steve Zhao joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
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2021 has been the year of many things, and one of them is the NFT or non-fungible token. We've seen NFTs come about for so many different things.
Digital artists have used them to sell their artwork in a more traditional art transaction than the internet had previously allowed. We've seen specific NFT campaigns like the pudgy penguins amass large followings. And now we're seeing them expand into horror films just in time for spooky season.
The iconic horror movie franchise "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" has launched its debut NFT line entitled "Leatherfaces." the illustrations are designed by Skinner in partnership with Ultra Rare to reveal a total of over 10,000 Leatherface avatars. The collection gives fans, NFT fiends and blockchain fanatics access to a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre metaverse unlike any that has been seen before.
Richie Hobson, co-founder of Ultra Rare, joins None of the Above to discuss.
