AT&T is testing AI-powered assistants designed to screen phones. Mobile carriers bring this feature to selected customers this year, and relax with a “digital receptionist” who can identify and exclude robocolors based on information from the network, such as call history.
“This is just the foundation for what we can do,” says Andy Marx, AT&T's chief data officer. Bargethe AI assistant added that it will help you to ultimately make an appointment or schedule a future appointment, just like what Google's AI assistant can do.
When you receive a call from an unknown number, your AT&T AI assistant will pick it up and ask for more details on who makes the call and why. The AI assistant patches calls if the caller meets certain criteria, such as whether or not the caller is human based on the sound of the voice, or whether or not to detect a sense of urgency. Otherwise, you can receive a message or hang up.
AT&T uses information from the network to determine whether the caller is a person he or she interacts with frequently, but it also allows numbers to be placed in the “Do not screen” list, and calls can be made directly from unused numbers such as the doctor's office or the children's school.
Markus says building AI agents directly into a carrier's network helps to stand out from other call screening features like those launched by Google and Apple. “When you use a network, you understand the patterns that consumers have,” says Markus. “Based on what we understand through the network, if my brother calls, I know I'm always interacting with him. Of course, that call should pass.”
Meanwhile, Google's call screen feature uses your phone's contact list to determine if you know who is incoming caller. It is also detected by detecting spam based on what the caller says and comparing numbers with databases of known spammers and robocolor.
However, AT&T's on-network assistants do not require a specific device to use the feature. AT&T now allows you to view AI Assistant transcripts in real time from the app, allowing you to monitor conversations while they occur. You can always receive the call or process it to your AI assistant and provide an AI-generated summary of what you've collected.
