With the evolution of artificial intelligence and robotics, you may be wondering how our everyday lives are changing. Recent commercial trends show that, as consumers, we are already using some of these developments for shopping and making financial transactions more efficiently.
Whether you’re shopping online for clothes, groceries or a gift, you could browse aimlessly for hours if you don’t already know what you’re looking for.
That’s why online retailers in Korea are working to upgrade their services to help customers get the most out of their shopping experiences — with the help of artificial intelligence.
OH Soo-young
“When you’re out and about, you might see a jacket or a top you like but don’t have a way or the time to check the label. Well, with this app, all you have to do is take a quick photo.”
Simply press the search bar and select the image option. Then, take a photo and specify which piece of clothing you’re looking to find… and the app will produce a list of items with the same or similar features.
Another easy way to find the best product for yourself… is the app’s voice recognition service.
“Show me some popular gifts for a girlfriend.”
It not only picks up the words you’re saying, it understands your questions and makes recommendations.
“Where is the product that I ordered?”
The app also allows customers to track a delivery, check membership points and look up questions and answers — all through voice recognition software.
SEO Kwang-seok, Manager of UX Innovation Team
“This year, we’re aiming to provide most mobile shopping services, like ordering and paying for purchases, through voice recognition. Also, we’re planning to expand our image search service so it can recognize all objects and text.”
It’s not just online shopping. The financial sector is also incorporating artificial intelligence. Banks in Korea are making use of “smart-bots” to assist customers around the clock. Those using the chatting platform Kakaotalk… can simply text a question… and they’ll receive an immediate response. Frequently asked questions and common keywords are constantly fed into a giant database that “trains” the AI system.
KWON Ik-kon, Manager of Smart Banking Dept.
“We also plan to add services that analyze individual preferences — whether a person prefers deposits or installment savings, or if they tend to make purchases with a credit card. We can provide recommendations based on that,… leading to registration for new products on the spot.”
Investment firms are even starting to use so-called “robo-advisors” that act as portfolio managers and help make clients make buy-or-sell decisions.
ROLES OF ROBO-ADVISORS
MANAGEMENT
Directly allocate and manage assets
Rebalance assets to maintain desired ratio of assets
Offer various services like tax-efficient strategies
CONSULTIVE
Monitor portfolio and offer regular advice
Replace underperforming or high-cost products
JEONG Ok-Hyun, Professor of Electronic Engineering
“First, Bank can provide investment advice or portfolio your management services by analyzing profitability based on the real-time situation or market trends. Second, services are available anytime and service charges are lower. And third, ordinary investors normally find it difficult to collect or acquire market information so this can help resolve the problem.”
This investment bank recently released a fund that’s designed to achieve an eight-percent return with far less volatility than average products.
YOO Dong-won, Head of Global Strategy Team
“When a person manages a fund — because equity market, human psychology is very important — But It’s not consistent. People can get greedy. This AI system, … a systematic system with an algorithm built and of course that needs to be upgraded over time continuously. This will be able to provide investors with much better trust because the volatility itself will become much less.”
Experts say AI-based products are increasing in number and diversifying as we speak. The voice recognition and AI software industries are expected to grow to 3-point-6 billion and 2-point-9 billion dollars, respectively, by 2020.
JEONG Ok-Hyun, Professor of Electronic Engineering
“In the future, robot-advisors and other AI-based services will expand to most sectors and be applied in corporate decision-making. Companies and universities developing relevant technologies need active support as well as a stronger legal configuration to help pave the way for the creation of new services.”
The expansion of artificial intelligence is already helping people in Korea make more informed purchases and investments… and its advance is expected to keep making commercial services faster and more convenient.