A range of Japanese companies have recently begun using artificial intelligence to fill necessary customer service roles, demonstrating proficiency in more complex situations, as the country struggles with a labor shortage.
Ridgelinez Ltd, a Fujitsu Ltd subsidiary, and a subsidiary of car parts retailer Autobacs Seven Co began joint trials in August of AI assistant "Rachel." She can recommend products based on the type of service a customer needs, car models and available stock.
The AI, provided by Tokyo-based Couger Inc, helps ease the workload of car salespeople, who must possess extensive knowledge, as different cars often require specific parts.
"Humans are still needed for replacing parts, but AI assist by recommending products," a Ridgelinez official said. "Humans can focus on more advanced tasks."
Oki Electric Industry Co and Kyushu Railway Co have also begun trialing a trilingual AI assistant who speaks Japanese, English and Chinese, providing passengers with station map guidance and assisting with transfers.
Tokyo-based startup Sapeet Co invented an AI that can be used to train staff on customer service. It was implemented at a jewelry store in July.
It demonstrates high-performing salespeople's skills in customer interactions and imitates conversation with customers for staff training.
© KYODO
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dagon
It couldn't be because these customer service jobs absolutely will not offer a living wage, could it?
Meiyouwenti
AI could make cheap foreign labor unnecessary. Many low-wage foreign workers (formerly known as technical trainees) will have to go back to the countries of their origin.
fluffy_canyons
Funny to me that Japan claims there is “labor shortage”. There might be but there is also a crazy amount of ridiculously low paid, redundant, mundane jobs here. Like, staffing an empty 24/7 combini. Of course no one is working there for 800¥ and hour? Of course this is a position that’s hard to fill.
I bet most of these “Ai” use cases in Japan are for things people basically never use, or shouldn’t exist in the first place.
Amazon has been doing product recommendation for as long as I remember, you hardly need to do “Ai” for this ?
Speed
Great for finding car parts. Having to go in the store and look in the parts book or asking the clerk is always a hassle. AI is also really useful for counting the number of nutrients I consume in a day.
factchecker
There's not a labour shortage. There's a shortage of well paying jobs.