In the post-pandemic era, working from the office can indeed be a tough task. We all have those busy days in the office when there are piles of work and there is no time to even grab a quick lunch. On days like this, how wonderful would it be if someone just brought a packet of chips or a bottle of soda to our desk? Tech giant Google has planned to do exactly this with its latest fleet of robots. Alphabet Inc. has created a new 'mechanical waiter' that can follow simple commands and also engage in conversations like a virtual chatbot. Take a look at the video here:
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Google is combining the physical prowess of robots with the conversation training skills of a virtual chatbot. The resulting robot can help employees delegate the task of fetching snacks from the break room with ease. These waiters have an artificial intelligence breakthrough that allows them to perform multiple tasks, vis-a-vis robots that can only perform a single task. They interpret voice commands, break them down into smaller steps and compare actions with capabilities. They are trained using Wikipedia, social media and other pages that are suitable for learning language technology.
The robots are being designed by Alphabet Inc's subsidiary called 'Everyday Robots'. Currently, they are limited to being used within the company for grabbing snacks and are not available for commercial use. "It's going to take a while before we can really have a firm grasp on the direct commercial impact," said Vincent Vanhoucke, senior director for Google's robotics research.
What did you think of this robot that takes voice commands and grabs snacks for you? Tell us in the comments.