海角大神

Concierge is getting a robotic makeover at one Hilton Hotels location. 聽

The McLean, Va., Hilton is the site of a pilot program featuring a robot concierge. The new hire stands in at two-and-a-half feet tall and has been placed on the desk beside human reception staff. More than just a shiny piece of equipment, the robot鈥檚 brain is packed with artificial intelligence.

Connie, named after Hilton founder Conrad Hilton, is a partnership between Hilton Worldwide and IBM. The brains behind the robot are IBM鈥檚 artificial intelligence program Watson and another partner program called WayBlazer, imbuing the new concierge with enough AI to carry on conversations with guests and answer questions about the local area.

Is the future of Hilton concierge robotic? Definitely not, according to Jim Holthouser, Hilton vice president of global brands.

鈥淭his isn鈥檛 about reducing staff,鈥� he told USA Today. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not where our minds are whatsoever.鈥�

But that doesn鈥檛 mean Connie is just for show either.

The AI within Connie is two-fold and geared especially for hospitality. The Watson program running in Connie allows the robot to understand conversational questions 鈥� meaning guests can speak to Connie just like they would human staff and the robot can reply back, according to the Hilton press release. The WayBlazer AI program is designed to allow Connie to learn the local area, make restaurant suggestions to guests, and speak about upcoming local events.

Connie鈥檚 body, though small, is also designed to help it serve. The body is based on the Nao robot designed by Aldebaran,聽with fully functional arms and legs and eyes that change to express humanlike emotions.

"When it is asked 鈥榳here鈥檚 the elevator?,' it says it鈥檚 down the hall to the left聽while pointing down the hall to the left,鈥澛燫ob High, IBM鈥檚 Watson chief technology officer, told USA Today.

For now, that makes the robot perfect for answering guests' questions, but leaves it far from the capabilities of a human concierge. But with its current capacity for conversation and ability to learn, Connie鈥檚 presence is an early marker in how robots may soon permeate mainstream life.

Less sophisticated AI robots than Connie are being used increasingly as comfort companions for children and the elderly and there is growing potential for robots could behave like pets, 海角大神 previously reported.

Many scientists are also recognizing the risks that are inherent in integrating AI further into the human workforce.

In mid-February, 海角大神鈥檚 Jason Thomson reported on the聽American Association for the Advancement of Science, where a panel addressed concerns that AI will have an adverse effect on human employment.

Artificial intelligence 鈥渨ill march into our society鈥� over the next few years, the panel concluded. Some industries, like driving, would be fully automated, and a large swath of other industries will also be vulnerable.