Humanoid robot soon to serve shop customers
KDDI Corp. will introduce a humanoid robot controlled by physical artificial intelligence (AI) technology to serve customers at retail shops and elsewhere, the Japanese telecommunications operator said on Monday.
KDDI will showcase related exhibitions at the Mobile World Congress, one of the world’s largest and most influential connectivity trade fairs, opening on Monday in Barcelona, Spain.
In cooperation with the Japanese startup Avita Inc., known for developing services powered by avatars and generative AI, KDDI aims to promote the next-generation AI systems that operate in and interact with the physical world by implementing customer-service robots on a trial basis as early as this fall.
These humanoids are expected to learn and acquire more natural conversational ability through interaction with customers.
KDDI will provide communications technologies that link cloud-based data processing infrastructure and robots, with humanoids planned to be operated at “au” mobile phone shops, medical and welfare facilities, art museums and recreational facilities, among others.
KDDI and Avita, headed by Hiroshi Ishiguro, professor at the University of Osaka’s Intelligence Robotics Laboratory, have already launched a remote customer service system that enables consumers to access a variety of essential services—such as telecommunications, finance, health care, and home support—guided by an AI avatar.
