The Knowledge to Decide

Taking a cue from a Japanese bank – Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ – Indian banks plan to use robots with artificial intelligence. Kumbakonam-based City Union Bank launched India’s first robot on-site assistant, known as Lakshmi. The robot imitates human action, thereby reducing the response time to customers by up to 60% and improving accuracy tremendously. The bank became the first to deploy robots that can perform repetitive, high volume and time-consuming tasks, raising productivity and efficiency. Will artificial intelligence enable banks to use robots on a mass scale? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/indias-first-banking-robot/

As China aims to shift from quantity to quality economic growth in 2018, it aims to foster high-quality job creation in fields like robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), while forestalling global financial risks. Will 2018 still see China regain its old dominance of global growth? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly. The world economy is poised for an upturn. This is not only due to China’s economic success. Perera remarked that the decrease in the headline US corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% – one of the lowest in the developed world; and Japan’s economic reforms under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are some of the contributing factors to the improved global economic outlook in 2018. Moreover, disruptive technologies such as drones and AI will give rise to employment opportunities globally in new sectors, compensating for eliminated traditional jobs. However, this movement depends on ho

The Korean robotics industry grew by 60% a year between 2005 and 2011. Korea has a strong position in industrial robots. Now, the government’s focus should now be on developing service robots to sustain growth. Spire Research and Consulting shared its insights, published on the Business Korea news portal. Korea’s industrial robot sector is larger than any country’s, except for Japan, China and the U.S. However, the service robot sector is emerging as a new growth hotbed, thanks to the accelerated use of artificial intelligence. However, Korea does not have any companies that specialize in the development of service robots. It will take time to further develop Korea’s service robotics technology which is where the government and Korean enterprises need to step in and focus so as to claim early global leadership. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/korea-needs-to-focus-on-developing-service-robots/

Korea ranks fourth in the deployment of industrial robots across the globe. It is on the fast track to have the world’s largest stock of robots by 2016. Korea is also home to 6 million people above the age of 65. Korean innovators are now bringing robots into the homes of the elderly. Spire Research and Consulting shared its insights, published on the US Consumer Electronics Association’s blog. The robotics industry in Korea reached a total revenue of KRW2.1 trillion in 2012 (approximately USD2 billion) – a two-fold increase in size since 2009. More than 600 domestic robot manufacturing companies operate within the country, employing more than 34,000 people. The government plans to spend KRW7 trillion (approximately USD6.3 billion) by 2018 in this industry. At the same time, Korea’s silver market will grow to eight million seniors by 2020. There are many companies catering to the unmet needs of the elderly. GoCart – a Korean-made robot – started distributing meals in elder ca