The Standard: Fano Labs' bot top award winner

News Source: The Standard (Read the full article here)

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Two local start-ups using artificial technology have won the innovation challenge launched by developer New World Group, including one that installed robots for customer service in malls.

Fano Labs, the first runner-up, introduced a customer service bot, which uses auto language detection technology to understand customer queries and help them find information they need when visiting malls. It can also simulate the human voice when answering questions.

Albert Lam Yun-sang, chief scientist and chief technology officer at Fano Labs, said traditional interactions with customers through websites and phone calls are often not monitored well.

He also said automating human interactions in Hong Kong was challenging due to people mixing Cantonese and English in conversations.

"We are the only company in the world that can handle the city's unique language environment. Our auto-language detection technology can handle mixed languages with over 90 percent accuracy rate," he said.

Lam believes the technology can also be used for customer service in different industries, such as banks and telecommunication companies. He also said his company planned to include more languages for the robot's detection tool and promote it to overseas markets.

"Our tool is already capable of handling Thai and Arabic, and we look forward to exporting it to southeast Asia and the Middle East," he said.