In the 2004 sci-fi blockbuster “I,Robot”, the Robot company in the film showed a loud advertising slogan-“2035, this is the era of machines.” In real life, although Robot hands are more and more widely used in fields such as automatic production lines, But it is still the image of a cold tool, and the robot with high intelligence is still far from the life of ordinary people.
However, with the explosive growth of artificial intelligence in the past two years, machines have the ability to more accurately understand human emotions and instructions, which also provides fertile ground for robots to land in a wider range of industries. On September 20th, at the “Machine Revolution, Artificial Intelligence Summit” at the Yunqi Conference, Alibaba Artificial Intelligence Laboratory launched two Tmall Elf Space Eggs and Tmall Elf Sky Shuttles.service robotand announced that it will promote the Tmall Genie Space Egg on a large scale in the hotel industry, and at the same time lock in key vertical application scenarios such as hospitals, office buildings, and restaurants, and strive to build service robots into future mobile public infrastructure.
Among the many companies that make robots, what are the advantages of Alibaba’s service robots? What kind of impact it will bring to future life and business, we will analyze them one by one below.
Making a service robot is a systematic project, and it is useless to rely on the idea of a single product to explode.
Essentially, a robot is an automated machine that can perform different tasks through programs and principles set in advance by people.But few of us call a robotic arm with a high degree of automation in a car workshop a robot, because in people’s traditional impression, a robot that is accepted in sci-fi blockbusters needs to have a similar appearance and emotional interaction with humans, so really idealsmart robotIt should be the product of the combination of high-precision machinery and high intelligence.
Chen Lijuan, general manager of Alibaba Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, when talking about Alibaba’s original intention of making robots, said that a major mission of artificial intelligence and robots is to free people from complicated, repetitive, and low-value labor, such as using cranes instead of manual handling. , Use robot vacuum cleaners instead of household cleaning. The launch of service robots also hopes to serve people and help them complete some service work.
Many technology enthusiasts may have seen videos of Boston Dynamics animal robots performing various complex actions. In my opinion, the problems of robots in the mechanical part have been generally overcome. The problem is more about how these high-precision and complex machines work. low-cost commercialization. It is a greater challenge to make robots smarter and more adaptable to new environmental challenges outside of fixed preset programs.
Alibaba makes service robots, and I think the biggest advantage is the accumulation of artificial intelligence. As we all know, computing power, algorithms and big data are the three elements that make up artificial intelligence. Alibaba is currently the largest cloud computing provider in China, and its smart terminal product Tmall Genie has shipped more than 5 million units. Tmall Genie There are more than 70 million connected home appliances and a peak of 40 million training sessions per day. Alibaba has enough data base to iteratively upgrade the algorithm. Whether it is the Tmall Elf Space Egg or the Space Shuttle, they can become smarter and smarter in practice through continuous system version upgrades and algorithm optimization.
At present, Tmall Genie Space Egg and Space Shuttle currently support multi-modal active interaction such as voice, gesture, touch, lighting, etc., support variable space in the cabin and two-way reciprocating travel, and can provide end users with unmanned A variety of personal services such as distribution and precise delivery are actually inseparable from the support of artificial intelligence technology.
Now many startups are working on robotics projects, and they hope to soar to the sky by creating an explosive model, but I think this is difficult to make sense in business practice. Because to be an intelligent robot is actually a huge system engineering, it requires that there should be no shortcomings in the implementation of various technical links, otherwise it will seriously affect the experience. Moreover, it is impossible for an intelligent robot to be perfect from the beginning. It must have a user data base of a certain scale before it can continuously optimize the algorithm. Therefore, an excellent and mature intelligent robot needs a healthy ecological swaddle to provide protection in the initial stage.
service robotPopularization requires a healthy ecological swaddling
At present, labor costs are high, and many companies are looking forward to using artificial intelligence androbot technologyliberate workers from simple, boring and even dangerous work, but from a rational point of view, I think that with the current technical level, it is possible to create an almost universal super machine like “Dabai”.robotIt is not realistic. Even if the technical and engineering difficulties are overcome, it is difficult for enterprises and users to accept the cost. Therefore, it is a more rational and realistic choice to make specific service robots for specific vertical industries.
We are often envious of the bravery of the first person to eat crabs, but in fact, there is also a huge risk behind trying unknown things. The commercial application and popularization of new technologies have similar problems, so Alibaba has chosen the model of “testing medicines by themselves”. The hotel industry is Alibaba’s first target for testing the waters of service robots.
According to Wang Qun, the person in charge of Alibaba Future Hotel, in each room of Alibaba’s first Future Hotel, which is about to open, guests have their own right to choose whether or not they need Tmall Genie as their life butler to assist in hotel check-in and stay. Provides all hotel related services. For example, guests can ask Tmall Genie to control 4 pieces of hardware in the guest room, which can actually control a lot. Through the calculation of data, we feel that controlling these four hardware can most effectively improve the service to the guests and the stability of the service, that is, the control of the curtains, lights, air conditioners, and televisions in the guest rooms, whether it is the temperature, wind speed or Switching the TV, etc. In addition, Tmall Genie can also provide related services according to customer requirements, which will be completed by Tmall Genie’s space egg next. Through the entire hotel Internet of Things and the layout of the Internet, Tmall Elf Space Egg knows that according to the clear instructions of the guests, the kitchen can customize the corresponding food, and then the space egg automatically identifies which elevator should be passed, and which floor to which room to which room. Provide appropriate services to guests. Of course, Tmall Genie still has a lot of supporting work that can be done for guests. People often ask for a waiter or make a phone call when they need service. At this time, they only need to communicate and communicate with the Tmall Elf in the hotel, even if the hotel needs to send you a toothbrush or a pair of slippers, or even a pair of slippers. Bottles of free mineral water, Tmall Elf Space Eggs can not only be delivered accurately, but also can be picked up from the automatic distribution warehouse. For hotels, it has greatly improved the person-efficiency ratio.
New technology is like a seed that thrives only if it finds the right soil and climate. The application of service robots also follows this rule. The Tmall Genie Space Shuttle is locked in the hospital scene. Some medical workers may even stand for more than 16 hours a day when the task of receiving patients is heavy. Varicose veins are an occupational disease that medical workers and teachers commonly suffer from. In addition to the ability of Tmall Genie, Space Shuttle It also has 60 independent medicine compartments that can be ejected, which means that medical staff can arrive precisely when they put medicines into the ward. In addition, the space shuttle can communicate directly through gesture sensing and voice, so there are many operations in scenes such as hospitals that cannot touch the physical object, or need to be operated under sterile conditions.
In Alibaba’s core e-commerce business, it provides a natural test field for applications such as unmanned distribution, intelligent warehousing, and precise delivery. The complete business map allows Alibaba’s service robots to have a direct channel for application, which is an ecological advantage that other small and medium-sized robot companies cannot have.
Robots will become new infrastructure, bringing about new changes in business
Every major breakthrough in productivity will bring a new round of revolution in the upgrading of production tools. This was true of the invention and popularization of the steam engine, the internal combustion engine, the computer, and the Internet. The popularity of robots will also have a profound impact on the future business landscape and productivity factors.
Chen Lijuan said in her keynote speech that robots can organically combine various elements of the Internet. The “neural network” built by the robot will create a new business infrastructure in the future. Together with the Tmall Genie and the neural unit of artificial intelligence software and hardware, the combination of the three can build a new business infrastructure in the future.
The development path of Alibaba Robot is based on the existing technology level and objective business environment, giving priority to supporting and meeting the needs of Alibaba’s economy, adopting a strategy of self-discipline, and only after the technology and needs are verified, will it be further extended to the entire industry and public life. Open, which greatly reduces the uncertainty and risk brought by the adoption of new technologies to business.
A few years ago, when we talked about cloud computing and artificial intelligence, it seemed that these new technologies were still difficult to couple with traditional business, but now almost all business organizations realize that if they cannot make good use of big data and artificial intelligence technology, they will It has been eliminated by the times in the process of digital transformation and intelligent transformation.Service robots with a high level of intelligence will gradually replace manual labor. Robots are tireless and can be continuously improved through deep learning algorithms to continuously improve the average social production efficiency index. Therefore, if you cannot accept it bravely and deploy it according to local conditionssmart robotthen it will be gradually surpassed or even eliminated by the opponent in the future business war.
Robots will become the infrastructure of future business, just like oil or electricity in the past, will become indispensable. By 2035, the “age of machines” metaphor Amosif borrowed from the movie “I, Robot” may have become a reality. Your company may not be able to manufacture robots, but if it doesn’t even have the ability to apply robotics, then it’s doomed.
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