An ‘Interview’ With Google’s New Digital Assistant
The logo for US technology company and search engine Google is displayed on screens in London on February 11, 2016. Britain's tax agency announced last month that Google would pay a £130 million (166 million euro, $187 million) tax settlement for 10 years' operations in Britain where it makes 11 percent of its global sales. Finance minister George Osborne hailed the agreement as a victory. But there was a barrage of criticism, including from within Prime Minister David Cameron's own Conservative Party as the announcement coincided with a key tax filing deadline for many Britons. / AFP / LEON NEAL (Photo credit should read LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images)
Photographer: LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty ImagesAlphabet Inc.’s Google unit introduced a new digital assistant Wednesday. Bloomberg News put the system through its paces by asking questions, some of which were suggested by AI experts including Oren Etzioni, head of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Other questions were suggested by Google’s Allo messaging service, through which the interview took place. Edited excerpts follow.
Bloomberg: What can you do?