Archives for November 12, 2016

Japan planning to invest billions in service robots

November 12, 2016 by Mai Tao

Japan Robot Week 2016 was hailed “a great success” by the organisers, as the event finished.

In 2015, the Japanese government announced “Japan’s Robot Strategy”, designating the subsequent five years as a term for dedicated focus on robotics innovation.

Leading up to 2020, the government pledged to invest approximately $1 billion in robotics-related projects, aiming to expand the service robot market to $14 billion – about 20 times today’s market value. [Read more…] about Japan planning to invest billions in service robots

Bank of America hires chatty virtual robot

November 12, 2016 by David Edwards

By David Henry, Reuters

Bank of America plans to provide customers with a chatty “virtual assistant” named Erica that will use artificial intelligence to make suggestions over mobile phones for improving their financial affairs.

Michelle Moore, head of digital banking for Bank of America, said in an interview on Monday that Erica will be smarter than a robot because she will bring up topics on her own, using predictive analytics as opposed to only answering questions customers ask.

For example, Erica may recommend taking steps to lift a sagging credit rating she noticed. Or, she may propose a customer make higher monthly payments on an outstanding credit card balance to reduce interest expenses. [Read more…] about Bank of America hires chatty virtual robot