Google Duplex's conversation skills make the AI assistant unique, but Microsoft changes that with its AI bot, XiaoIce (pronounced shao-ice).
Microsoft previously announced its chatbot's ability to carry a full conversation with a human. It is able to speak and listen at the same time, which makes it a good bot for phone calls.
Microsoft AI Bot Is Capable Of Full Duplex Conversations
Earlier this month, Google demonstrated the Google Assistant's new ability to make calls on behalf of the user, and now it is Microsoft's turn to do a demo. XiaoIce is a Chinese social chatbot, so the demo at an AI event in London is performed in Mandarin.
The video below showcases how XiaoIce communicates with a person on the other end of the line, with both being able to speak simultaneously without the AI needing to pause to listen. This is called duplex conversations, which is how people naturally talk to each other.
This is what Li Zhou, lead engineer for XiaoIce, wanted to achieve. According to him, the way AI assistants and bots process information is unnatural. They wait until the other person finishes before assessing the statement and then making a response.
Not only is XiaoIce able to carry conversations, it can also predict what the other person is going to say next. This allows her to make more natural responses, a skill that other chatbots are yet to learn.
XiaoIce Is A Celebrity Chatbot In China
It should be noted, however, that XiaoIce is not an AI assistant. Rather, it is sort of a celebrity bot in China whom people can talk to via 16 different channels. It mainly talked to its 500 million "friends" through messages in WhatsApp or other messaging services, but now it is calling people on their phones.
"One of the things we started doing earlier this year is having full duplex conversations," said Satya Nadella, CEO.
"So now Xiaoice can be conversing with you in WeChat and stop and call you. Then you can just talk to it using voice."
XiaoIce has made a million calls, but it is currently limited in China. It does bring hope that Microsoft will implement the technology in its digital assistant Cortana before Siri and other AI assistants do. As for an English-speaking chatbot for the US, the massive failure of the Tay project, which Twitter taught to be racist, might delay decisions for a bit.
