Think telemarketers are a pest? Wait till China’s AI versions call
- They can make 3,000 calls a day without getting tired or temperamental and even blocking their number won’t stop them
- There’s not even anypoint in swearing at them. Welcome to China’s brave new world of telemarketing in the artificial intelligence age
Shanghai resident Fan Kaiyi has been on the receiving end of unsolicited calls for as long as she can remember.
Whether at home or on her mobile phone, the digital project coordinator, 38, is bombarded by sales representatives trying to sell her everything from property, insurance policies and pharmaceutical products to fitness classes and emigration services. Others try to convince her to take out bank loans requiring no background checks or collaterals.
Lately, the calls have taken a new twist. Now when she answers the phone Fan often finds there is nobody on the other end. At least, there’s no person there. It’s a robot instead – and a very realistic one too.
“At first I didn’t even realise I was speaking to an automated service. I told the ‘person’ that I did not require an energy-boosting product and the voice went on to recommend another, similar product,” she said.
“When I asked ‘didn’t you hear what I just said’, the voice did not appear to understand. Just as I was about to hang up the phone, the voice suddenly identified itself as an AI phone assistant.”
Fan felt her time had been wasted. “I felt stupid talking to a machine. But the voice was so real and did not sound as if it was pre-recorded.”