Microsoft Does A ‘Google Duplex’ And Shows Off Conversational AI

The Duplex presentation by Google, in which its smart assistant casually spoke with real people to book appointments seems to have taken the tech industry by surprise. Not only the did conversation sound natural, with all the speech interruptions expected from humans, the flow was there as well. In response, Microsoft is showcasing Xiaoice, which can apparently also talk like how humans do.

Aside from the fact that its name can be tricky to pronounce, Xiaoice is a social chatbot that is powered by AI and which Microsoft is currently testing out in China. Rather than being a virtual assistant that books appointment for users, however, this particular platform will actually just talk to the user. It’s basically something of a friend rather than a tool, CNET reports.

This is tricky since maintaining a conversation requires thinking ahead in order to anticipate what the other person is going to say instead of just reacting to everything. Humans do this all the time, though, it’s done mostly through the subconscious. By doing so, the exchange of words can continue unimpeded.

Apparently, this chatbot can do exactly that, and it’s seeing a lot of success in China as a result.

"We have seen tremendous success with Xiaoice in China and our other global chatbots," a spokesperson for Microsoft said. "We are excited about what this technology will bring to the future of conversational AI and computing."

In its coverage of the chatbot, The Verge also provided an example of how it was speaking to someone over the phone. According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, it now has over 500 million friends in China that call up to speak to it on a regular basis. In fact, it seems Xiaoice has even become something of a celebrity in the country with its own TV show and by doing various other activities.