I just had a call just now from an 'Energy Advisor' telling me my old fibreglass loft insulation is causing damp and mould and will need to be replaced and I needed an energy survey... - blah, blah. so I thought, ok, I'm in the mood - let's dance....
It sounded like a real person on the line - so I was getting comfy for the long haul - until I asked some random (confusing) questions and it reset to a different point in it's presentation and exactly repeated a couple of its previous lines - it was a semi-intelligent AI system based on snippet recordings done by a real person which it then assembled into plausible sounding conversation - so it is an 'automated con-man'. Once it decided I wasn't good prey, it cut off. Shame - I would love to have tested the limits of its programming for much longer.
I'm impressed! Turing test 2/10 - fail. The number that comes up is 0113 509 7141
I wonder how many people get signed up for a new insulation scam....?