The AI engine "Watson" is already used in health care, travel and insurance services in English, but an adaptation was needed to make it work and think in Japanese, said Steve Gold, Vice President, IBM Watson Group.
Unlike other cognitive technology that responds rather mechanically, Watson can learn over time like a human brain, and understands the concept of probability, which makes it very sophisticated and more human-like for applications, according to IBM.
Watson will be used in Pepper, Softbank's empathetic robot going on sale in Japan this month for 198,000 yen (USD1,700) and will make for a smarter, more charming companion, he said.
Pepper has a stunned face a bit like C3PO in "Star Wars" and moves around on wheels. In early demonstrations it was a bit mechanical in its responses. Gold said Watson will change that.
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A call centre using Watson will get the caller to the right solution more quickly and make for a less frustrating consumer experience, he said.
But the complexity of the Japanese language, including thousands of characters that stand for various meanings, with several phonetic options, presented a challenge even for Watson, Gold said.
Son said Pepper will not result in big profits immediately, but it points to a new lifestyle, promising to turn into a real business in perhaps 30 years.