Are robots welcome as digital helpers?

Are robots welcome as digital helpers?

San Francisco, April 27, 2020

California-based manufacturer CloudMinds has shipped more than 100 robots to China since February. Many of them have gone to hospitals, where the robot called „XR-1“ provides patients with information and guides visitors to the right department.

Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), they can operate independently. In addition, they are connected to 5G cellular networks so that they can react in real time. The Dean of Wuhan Wuchang Field Hospital, Wan Jun, is thrilled: “You were very helpful. The contactless operation and reliability of the CloudMinds robots supported the field hospital in a difficult time, „he says.

Although the use and success of such campaigns do not yet attract any special attention, it can still be interpreted as a clear indication of how to proceed. Artificial intelligence has made such great strides in speech processing that further and new developments as digital helpers are pretty safe.

For example, the gynecologist Dr. Anita Montes from North Carolina, thanks to the Suki „hours and hours a day“ app she uses voice-controlled and specialized in medical terminology for writing notes. She believes such services would be helpful to doctors dealing with Covid 19 patients: „You may spend 12 hours seeing patients and then another hour creating medical records, so all the tools you need can shorten this time, are really helpful ”.

So far, digital assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri have limited their actions to services that focus on leisure, but experts say that will soon change towards business use.

Against the backdrop of this emerging trend, Microsoft has changed Cortana’s capabilities. The direction is clear: away from consumer-oriented functions towards personal productivity applications such as reading aloud emails and planning meetings.

„There is a need for a wizard that goes beyond answering questions or setting alarms,“ ​​said a Microsoft statement. „Our ultimate goal for Cortana is to create a wizard that will help you … focus on the things that matter most.“

Microsoft has announced the following capabilities for Cortana: Used as a „scheduler“, you send it a message saying which people you want to meet, then „let your digital assistant find a time and place that works for everyone. Once your meeting is scheduled, Cortana will send an invitation to all participants on your behalf. Or as an email examiner: “A briefing can help you get your calendar and tasks under control by giving you an overview of everything you need to prepare for the day ahead. Available soon!“