Ask Watson – the IBM’s service agent comes to Smartphones
Are you familiar with the IMB’s supercomputer Watson? The world’s smartest machine has recently won a showdown competition on ABC against two big champions – Jennings and Rutter. That proved a sizable computer can win against a human –game’s creator. Then, Watson found another job – as an oncologist in a medical school. Now, the supercomputer has started a new job – as a customer service agent. Yes, that is not the same as fighting the cancer, but Watson’s help can reach more people and it is more practical. Until now, IBM has spent almost $112 billion on call centers and almost half of all calls cannot be resolved, the Forbes’ report reveals.
Starting in June, Ask Watson will be available to some of IBM’s major customers and it will help through different applications – chats, e-mails, sms, smartphone apps and others. Moreover, voice recognition technology could be also applied; hence the customer service would be streamlined and made more efficient. According to Forbes, each of the customers will have its own customized software and the service will start initially inside the organization, and later it could be introduced to the general public. Watson can answer direct questions like: When is the next fly to London? Or what is the weather like in New York? Many of these questions are time consuming and some of them are not even resolved from the call centers. IBM has found that most of the calls would be resolved if there was a better access to information.
That’s why Watson could help. The supercomputer has access to a variety of databases, catalogues, product information, manuals, forums and plenty of other sources. With Watson’s help the problems would need less time than ever to be resolved – IBM promises 40% reduction in information searching time. To conclude, Ask Watson will be introduced to some key service providers, and sooner or later it will come to your smartphone. Get Ready!
Source: Forbes
