
你是否曾为啤酒多花冤枉钱?马特·科特兰(Matt Cortland)就有过这样的经历,这让他决心不再重蹈覆辙。
具体来说,科特兰偏爱健力士啤酒。3月初,这位37岁男子在都柏林一家酒吧花7.80欧元(约合8.93美元)买了一杯爱尔兰干世涛啤酒后,便心生好奇,全爱尔兰一品脱该啤酒的均价是多少。
令他意外的是,爱尔兰中央统计局早在2011年就停止追踪这款全国最受欢迎啤酒的售价。这让科特兰萌生了一个大胆的想法:亲自追踪健力士啤酒的价格。
作为一家人工智能初创公司的创始人,科特兰借助人工智能技术打造专属语音助手。他利用人工智能语音生成平台ElevenLabs打造出名为“蕾切尔”(Rachel)的语音助手。这个语音助手向英国版真人秀《叛徒》的冠军蕾切尔·达菲(Rachel Duffy)致敬,并配有北爱尔兰口音。这个AI语音智能体在爱尔兰累计拨打超3000通电话,逐一询问一品脱健力士啤酒的售价。
科特兰在接受《财富》杂志采访时表示:“我当时就想,‘我能不能借助人工智能给爱尔兰所有酒吧打电话,以聊天的方式询问价格?’我顺着这个思路想下去,越想越觉得可行,于是就有了如今的成果。”
利用从数千通电话中收集的数据,他随后借助Anthropic公司的Claude模型创建了“健力士指数”。他称这个指数是全爱尔兰一品脱健力士啤酒“实时更新、动态变化”的消费者物价指数,该指数还允许调酒师和啤酒爱好者参与其中,更正售价信息。
如今,科特兰可以查看自己几周前为一品脱啤酒支付的7.80欧元,在全爱尔兰处于什么水平。周一,全爱尔兰一品脱健力士啤酒的平均价格约为6.01欧元(约合6.88美元),最常见的价格是5.50欧元(约合6.30美元)。
健力士母公司帝亚吉欧(Diageo)未回应《财富》杂志的置评请求。目前,爱尔兰各地酒吧的啤酒售价,均由经营者自主定价。
人工智能模型正飞速迭代升级,甚至突破顶尖科学家曾认定的技术天花板。尽管不少人对“人工智能就业末日”心生担忧,但也有从业者正借助这项技术破解各类复杂问题,甚至有人将其用于出售自己的房屋。
尽管OpenAI首席执行官萨姆·奥尔特曼(Sam Altman)和谷歌总裁露丝·波拉特(Ruth Porat)认为这项技术将攻克癌症治疗等全球最复杂的难题,但与此同时,人工智能也在解决一些体量不大却同样重要的问题。
如今,越来越多的AI语音智能体出现在电话的另一端,科特兰打造的蕾切尔,正是其中之一。语音人工智能公司Regal的数据显示,在消费者眼中,这类人工智能已具备与真人相当的可信度。
基于数百万通AI语音智能体的通话数据,人们与人工智能聊天的时长,比与人类客服沟通的时长多出14%,给出的回复也长了22%,还会分享通常不会提及的细节。
科特兰表示,他也看到了类似的结果。他的AI语音智能体蕾切尔在爱尔兰各地的通话记录显示,大多数人都没有意识到沟通对象并非真人。《财富》杂志查阅的部分通话记录也证实了这一点。
北爱尔兰恩尼斯基林市Doogies酒吧的一名调酒师对蕾切尔说:“一品脱健力士啤酒多少钱?25英镑。不过,你要是过来小酌一杯,给我5英镑就行。”
“跟你说,平时一杯卖6.2欧元,但要是你买不起,我们就请你喝一杯。放心,我们会关照你的。”爱尔兰基尔肯尼市Malzards Pub的一名调酒师对蕾切尔说道。
尽管“健力士指数”尚未引发剧烈的价格变动,但科特兰表示他已看到成效。他提到,据称有位酒吧老板将健力士啤酒的价格下调了0.40欧元,随后亲自在该指数平台更新了价格信息。
科特兰希望将“健力士指数”的成功模式复制到其他产品上,比如他的出生地美国的处方药,甚至是纽约的披萨。
对科特兰而言,透明度至关重要。他发现,当地市场相隔仅100码(约合91米)的酒吧,啤酒售价悬殊,有时价差甚至接近2欧元。
“如果一品脱健力士啤酒卖11欧元,那也无可厚非,”他说道。(根据“健力士指数”,爱尔兰一品脱健力士啤酒的最高售价为11欧元。)“但人们理应知情。”(财富中文网)
译者:中慧言-王芳
你是否曾为啤酒多花冤枉钱?马特·科特兰(Matt Cortland)就有过这样的经历,这让他决心不再重蹈覆辙。
具体来说,科特兰偏爱健力士啤酒。3月初,这位37岁男子在都柏林一家酒吧花7.80欧元(约合8.93美元)买了一杯爱尔兰干世涛啤酒后,便心生好奇,全爱尔兰一品脱该啤酒的均价是多少。
令他意外的是,爱尔兰中央统计局早在2011年就停止追踪这款全国最受欢迎啤酒的售价。这让科特兰萌生了一个大胆的想法:亲自追踪健力士啤酒的价格。
作为一家人工智能初创公司的创始人,科特兰借助人工智能技术打造专属语音助手。他利用人工智能语音生成平台ElevenLabs打造出名为“蕾切尔”(Rachel)的语音助手。这个语音助手向英国版真人秀《叛徒》的冠军蕾切尔·达菲(Rachel Duffy)致敬,并配有北爱尔兰口音。这个AI语音智能体在爱尔兰累计拨打超3000通电话,逐一询问一品脱健力士啤酒的售价。
科特兰在接受《财富》杂志采访时表示:“我当时就想,‘我能不能借助人工智能给爱尔兰所有酒吧打电话,以聊天的方式询问价格?’我顺着这个思路想下去,越想越觉得可行,于是就有了如今的成果。”
利用从数千通电话中收集的数据,他随后借助Anthropic公司的Claude模型创建了“健力士指数”。他称这个指数是全爱尔兰一品脱健力士啤酒“实时更新、动态变化”的消费者物价指数,该指数还允许调酒师和啤酒爱好者参与其中,更正售价信息。
如今,科特兰可以查看自己几周前为一品脱啤酒支付的7.80欧元,在全爱尔兰处于什么水平。周一,全爱尔兰一品脱健力士啤酒的平均价格约为6.01欧元(约合6.88美元),最常见的价格是5.50欧元(约合6.30美元)。
健力士母公司帝亚吉欧(Diageo)未回应《财富》杂志的置评请求。目前,爱尔兰各地酒吧的啤酒售价,均由经营者自主定价。
人工智能模型正飞速迭代升级,甚至突破顶尖科学家曾认定的技术天花板。尽管不少人对“人工智能就业末日”心生担忧,但也有从业者正借助这项技术破解各类复杂问题,甚至有人将其用于出售自己的房屋。
尽管OpenAI首席执行官萨姆·奥尔特曼(Sam Altman)和谷歌总裁露丝·波拉特(Ruth Porat)认为这项技术将攻克癌症治疗等全球最复杂的难题,但与此同时,人工智能也在解决一些体量不大却同样重要的问题。
如今,越来越多的AI语音智能体出现在电话的另一端,科特兰打造的蕾切尔,正是其中之一。语音人工智能公司Regal的数据显示,在消费者眼中,这类人工智能已具备与真人相当的可信度。
基于数百万通AI语音智能体的通话数据,人们与人工智能聊天的时长,比与人类客服沟通的时长多出14%,给出的回复也长了22%,还会分享通常不会提及的细节。
科特兰表示,他也看到了类似的结果。他的AI语音智能体蕾切尔在爱尔兰各地的通话记录显示,大多数人都没有意识到沟通对象并非真人。《财富》杂志查阅的部分通话记录也证实了这一点。
北爱尔兰恩尼斯基林市Doogies酒吧的一名调酒师对蕾切尔说:“一品脱健力士啤酒多少钱?25英镑。不过,你要是过来小酌一杯,给我5英镑就行。”
“跟你说,平时一杯卖6.2欧元,但要是你买不起,我们就请你喝一杯。放心,我们会关照你的。”爱尔兰基尔肯尼市Malzards Pub的一名调酒师对蕾切尔说道。
尽管“健力士指数”尚未引发剧烈的价格变动,但科特兰表示他已看到成效。他提到,据称有位酒吧老板将健力士啤酒的价格下调了0.40欧元,随后亲自在该指数平台更新了价格信息。
科特兰希望将“健力士指数”的成功模式复制到其他产品上,比如他的出生地美国的处方药,甚至是纽约的披萨。
对科特兰而言,透明度至关重要。他发现,当地市场相隔仅100码(约合91米)的酒吧,啤酒售价悬殊,有时价差甚至接近2欧元。
“如果一品脱健力士啤酒卖11欧元,那也无可厚非,”他说道。(根据“健力士指数”,爱尔兰一品脱健力士啤酒的最高售价为11欧元。)“但人们理应知情。”(财富中文网)
译者:中慧言-王芳
Have you ever overpaid for a beer? Matt Cortland has, and it set him on a path to never repeat the mistake.
That is, for Cortland’s drink of choice: a pint of Guinness. After paying €7.80 (about $8.93) for Irish dry stout at a pub in Dublin earlier this month, the 37-year-old grew curious about the average cost of a pint across Ireland.
To his astonishment, the country’s Central Statistics Office had dropped price tracking of the nation’s most popular beer in 2011. That led Cortland to the wild idea of tracking the price himself.
Cortland—founder of an AI startup—turned to AI to lend him a hand, and a voice. He devised Rachel with AI voice generation platform ElevenLabs. Made as an homage to Rachel Duffy, the winner of the U.K. version of the reality TV show The Traitors and equipped with a Northern Irish accent, the voice-enabled AI agent made more than 3,000 calls across the island, inquiring about the price of a pint of Guinness.
“I was like, ‘Well can I just call every pub in Ireland and conversationally ask them with AI?,’” Cortland told Fortune. “I pulled the thread, and I just kept pulling the thread, and here we are.”
Using the data accrued from the thousands of phone calls, he then turned to Anthropic’s Claude to devise the “Guinndex,” which he calls a “living, breathing” consumer price index for a pint of Guinness across Ireland. It also allows bartenders and beer drinkers to contribute and modify prices.
Now Cortland can see how his €7.80 pint weeks earlier matches up with the rest of Ireland. On Monday, the average price was about €6.01 (about $6.88) and the most common price was €5.50 ($6.30).
Guinness parent company Diageo didn’t respond to Fortune’s requests for comment. Beer prices are independently set by pub owners across Ireland.
AI models are advancing at an increasingly rapid pace, surpassing benchmarks even the most sophisticated scientists deemed out of the realm of the machine. And while many shudder at the idea of an AI job apocalypse, others are leveraging the technology to answer complex questions. Some have even used it to sell their home.
And while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Google president Ruth Porat think the technology will solve the world’s most complex issues like finding a cure for cancer, AI is also solving smaller, albeit still important, problems along the way.
Rachel, Cortland’s AI agent, is one of a growing number of voice AIs that are appearing on the other end of your phone line. Data from voice AI firm Regal showed that customers are finding the AI as credible as humans.
Based on data from millions of calls with voice AI agents, people are taking 14% more time to chat with AI than they would with a human representative. They’re also giving 22% longer responses, sharing details they’d normally skip.
Cortland said he saw similar results. The conversations his AI had across Ireland showed that most didn’t realize they were communicating with AI. The transcripts of some of those conversations, reviewed by Fortune, make that clear.
“The cost of a pint of Guinness? Twenty-five pounds. But if you’re coming in for a wee drink, I’ll give it to you for a fiver,” a bartender at Doogies in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, told Rachel.
“Listen, they’re normally 6.20 [euros], but if you can’t afford one, we’ll buy you one. We’ll look after you,” a bartender at Malzards Pub in Kilkenny, Ireland, told the AI.
While the Guinndex hasn’t yet led to a dramatic price shift, Cortland said he has already seen it yielding results. In one instance, he said a pub owner reportedly lowered the cost of his Guinness by 0.40 euros and then updated the entry on the Guinndex himself.
Cortland’s hoping to replicate the success of the Guinndex for other products, perhaps for prescription drugs in the U.S., where he is originally from, or even for a slice of pizza in New York City.
For Cortland, the level of transparency is essential in a market where he has seen prices fluctuate wildly, sometimes by nearly 2 euros, between pubs located literally 100 yards away from one another.
“If you’re charging €11 for a pint of Guinness, that’s fair enough,” he said. (The priciest pint in Ireland is €11, according to the Guinndex.) “But people should know that information.”