Meet the Robot Telemarketer Who Denies She’s A Robot
Meet the Robot Telemarketer Who Denies She’s A Robot
Our encounter with an all-too-convincing robot.
By Zeke Miller and Denver Nicks @jessicakroyDec. 10, 2013
The phone call came from a charming woman with a bright,
engaging voice to the cell phone of a TIME Washington Bureau Chief Michael
Scherer. She wanted to offer a deal on health insurance, but something was
fishy.
When Scherer asked point blank if she was a real person,
or a computer-operated robot voice, she replied enthusiastically that she was
real, with a charming laugh. But then she failed several other tests. When
asked “What vegetable is found in tomato soup?” she said she did not understand
the question. When asked multiple times what day of the week it was yesterday,
she complained repeatedly of a bad connection.
Over the course of the next hour, several TIME reporters
called her back, working to uncover the mystery of her bona fides. Her name,
she said, was Samantha West, and she was definitely a robot, given the pitch
perfect repetition of her answers. Her goal was to ask a series of questions
about health coverage—”Are you on Medicare?” etc.—and then transfer the
potential customer to a real person, who could close the sale. You can listen
for yourself to some of the reporting here:
If you want, you can call her too. Her number is (484)
589-5611. This number, if you Google it, is the subject of much discussion
online as other recipients of Samantha West calls complain on chat boards about
the mysteriously persistent lady who keeps calling them. “A friendly sounded
woman on the other end claimed I requested health insurance information,”
writes one mark. “She doggedly refused to deviate from her script.”
After answering her questions, one TIME reporter was
transferred to an actual human who did not promptly end the call, as others had
when asked about Samantha. Asked for the company’s website, the real human on
the other end of the line said it was premierhealthagency.com, the website of a
Ft. Lauderdale company. “We’re here to help. . . because we care,” is the
company motto on its homepage. A TIME reporter called the company directly,
identified himself and said TIME was doing a story about the robot who calls
people on the company’s behalf. “We don’t use robot calls, sir,” said the person
who answered the phone, before promptly hanging up the phone.
When the number was called a second time, a real live
employee of Premier Health Plans Inc., who gave his name as Bruce Martin,
answered the phone. He said he was not sure if Samantha West’s phone number,
mentioned above, was one of the company’s numbers. “First of all, we use TV, we
use radio, we use Internet,” said Martin. He described the company as selling
life insurance, health insurance and dental insurance. He asked that TIME publish
the name of his company, the website and phone number in the article. “If you
are going to publish this in the magazine, I’d like to get something out of
it,” he said. The TIME reporter agreed to do just that.
Martin also said he would inquire internally about
whether Samantha West worked for the company, but would not be able to respond
to the request Monday night. TIME will update the story with any additional
information he provides.
UPDATE: As of Dec. 11, one day after this story
published, the phone number listed above was no longer answered by Samantha
West. Rather, it diverted callers to a busy signal. Also the website,
premierhealthagency.com, had been taken offline.
With reporting by Michael Scherer, Christopher Wilson,
and Jessica Roy.
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