Is artificial intelligence the future in banking services? Meet Pepper, the world’s first humanoid robot

Artificial intelligence and robotics are advancing at lightning speed. Doomsayers claim we are about to open a Pandora’s box with dire consequences. Are these concerns justified? ing.world investigates.

Earlier this week, ING welcomed a very special visitor. They say he is a genuine day-to-day companion, who can perceive emotions and loves to interact with people. More so, he loves to learn about people’s tastes and personality traits, so he can adapt his behaviour accordingly.

And believe it or not, he’s a robot, called Pepper.

ING’s robotics and artificial intelligence lead Vinoth Raman, brought in Pepper, the world’s first humanoid robot. He wanted to get people thinking about robotics and the future of artificial intelligence.

Intrigued by the prospect of a robotic future, Vinoth Raman, invited Pepper for a tour of the bank’s headquarters in Amsterdam. He made quite an impression:

So how will robots like Pepper, and artificial intelligence in general impact our lives, personally, and professionally? The latest ing.world, the ‘robot’ issue, delves deep into the topic.

Created by Japanese group Softbank, Pepper has already made its debut at the flagship Tokyo branch of Mizuho. The bank hired the 48-inch humanoid last summer to entertain customers with games and multimedia and provide basic information on products.

More recently, Softbank announced that Pepper will start taking orders and payments in some Pizza Hut Asia restaurants by the end of the year thanks to an app built by the MasterCard Labs team in Singapore.