Concierge robots begin working in shopping centres
Artificial intelligence is now breaking into the hospitality segment in South Korea, with more developments to come
By Park Jae-hyuk
Robots, which were once used only in massive manufacturing plants with automated assembly lines, have come closer to our daily lives to enable new possibilities in the services industry.
According to industry officials, Tuesday, rapid-growing robotics technology in various fields has already broken time-honoured beliefs that there are human-only abilities like hospitality for customers.
Earlier this week, Lotte Department Store began to operate a concierge robot called elBot for shoppers at its main branch in Seoul. The first concierge robot in Korea offers various services such as recommending restaurants and locating shops in the outlet.
elBot can also enable visual communication between foreign customers and department store staff who can speak English, Japanese and Chinese. If customers want to get services in a foreign language, they just need to tap on the robot.
The robot will feature an artificial intelligence (AI)-based conversation function in the near future, the Seoul-based department store said.
“We adopted the concierge robot to offer pleasure and convenience to our customers,” a Lotte Department Store official said. “We plan to develop further services using information and communication technologies to provide additional pleasure to shoppers.”