[Photo by Lee Jung-soo = leejs@]
South Korea's fifth largest conglomerate, Lotte, forged strategic ties with American tech giant IBM to develop a shopping adviser chatbot, using Watson's artificial intelligence solution. The chatbot would provide tailored services to customers.
IMB Watson is a cognitive computer system capable of answering questions posed in natural language.
"To cope with a sudden change in the market and find values in new areas, Lotte has adopted Watson," said Hwang Kak-kyu, a Lotte president in charge of operations. "We will be able to provide customers with innovative services through co-operation with IBM."
Lotte promised to set up an integrated group IT service network, including Watson, in five years.
Various chatbots, designed to have conversations with human users, have been around for more than ten years but most were based on scripts, only providing simple fixed answers. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot enables more human-like conversations, analyzing and suggesting the best answer possible.
Lotte said the new chatbot would provide two main services -- intelligent shopping adviser and intelligent decision-making support platform. Its chatbot will mainly be used in department stores and distribution networks.
When the new service is commercialized, customers can chat, get ideal shopping recommendations and shopping schedules. If a customer asks the chatbot about what would be the best present for his 12-year-old son's birthday, AI would analyze and provide an ideal answer.
The intelligent decision-making support platform would be used in developing new business items and setting strategies.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
