IBM’s Watson AI just landed a new job: helping Macy’s shoppers - stewartreass1980

IBM's Watson may equal putting its cognitive muscle to work battling cancer and cybercriminals, but it's no slouch at shopping, either. On Wed, retail brand Macy's proclaimed that it's examination out a new mobile service that lets in-store shoppers take Watson for help.

Dubbed Macy's On-Call, the tool gives smartphone-equipped shoppers a way to ask Watson questions nearly a store's products, services and facilities by typing their questions into a mobile web browser. It's delivered through location-based engagement software from IBM partner Satisfi, which accesses Watson from the cloud, and it works in both English and Spanish.

Unaffected-language processing allows shoppers to ask questions in their own words. Thither's no voice input available. Answers are customized to apiece individual store, either by tapping into the smartphone's GPS, if it's turned on, Oregon away asking the user to input a ZIP code. Either way, when a shopper types, "Where are ladies' shoes?" or "INC dresses," for example, Watson will deliver the placement and directions specific to that memory.

Macy's Connected-Anticipate is configured to use machine learning to evolve ended clock time as information technology learns more about each store's customers. It's currently being piloted in 10 Macy's stores crosswise the U.S..

"Our doctrine is to trial run small, launch quick, get a line fast and and so scale," aforementioned Serena Potter, mathematical group vice president of integer media for Macy's. "Our team is watching the questions and answers closely, and we'ray constantly refining."

Macy's already offers a peregrine app for shoppers, and customers lav use it to scan whatsoever item's barcode for information much as size, color and availability.

"We sleep with the customer expects help, and have been very focused happening using transplantable to enhance the in-salt away shopping experience," Potter said.

Sooner or later, the new Watson-powered service could get incorporated into that app. For now, though, "we're still encyclopedism and figuring stuff out," she said. "American Samoa this progresses, we have a long list of other expected uses. Our ultimate goal is to implement additional psychological feature services in the future."