CogCom: Not a small cog in the mainframe of things
View(s):The only most important general-purpose technology of our era, Artificial Intelligence (AI) that we in our youth came close to was KITT, an artificially intelligent electronic computer module in the body of a highly advanced, very mobile, robotic automobile in the Knight Rider series that follow the adventures of Michael Knight, a modern-day crime fighter. It was magic at the time.
Now the deal is different. AI is everywhere including the smartphone (Digital personal assistants that search multiple data sources and provide answers in plain English, like Apple’s Siri). Computer vision and audio processing, for example, are able to actively recognise the world around them by acquiring and processing images, sounds and speech. The use of facial recognition at border control kiosks is one realistic example of how AI can improve productivity. Now AI is used to power the language translation feature of search engine results. An AI system can take action through technologies such as expert systems and inference engines, or carry out actions in the physical world. Auto-pilot features and assisted-braking capabilities in cars are examples of this. The key is to realise that AI is more than just another wave of technology.
The Colombo Centre for Cognitive Computing (CogCom) has acted on this realisation. They build experiential AI solutions turning content into conversations and moving the search generation to the ask generation to give people information at the point of need.
CogCom is a technology agnostic developer of AI solutions, with a focus on ‘optimising human performance through Smart Machines’. The centre’s team of AI specialists focuses on building apps that help businesses worldwide to automate mundane tasks and improve the customer experience, says Asiri Fernando, General Manager of CogCom. These apps are powered by smart machines, which can respond to questions asked in natural language, instantly – from anywhere at any time.
CogCom is a wholly-owned subsidy of Volume Ltd, a global company based in the UK with its head office in Workingham. The company first established its presence in Colombo in 2011 as Volume Technology Centre prior to its rebranding as CogCom. It currently employs a team of 25 software professionals in Sri Lanka.
The company developed Digital ConciergeR, a conversational AI platform (CAP) that engages with the audience using written or spoken natural language conversations and is multi-channel meaning users can interact through a range of platforms, from websites to Facebook messenger bots to humanoid robots. The Digital Concierge can be trained on any specific domain and serves as a central interaction point for individuals. It understands people will ask questions in different ways and is intelligent enough to disambiguate vague questions in order to return correct information.
“We have launched our own CAP called Cody which enhances our Cogcom.ai website and is available in tri-language. Cody is trained to provide any information about CogCom and users can interact in Sinhala and Tamil and allows all local population to interact with Digital ConciergeR in order to get accurate information,” Mr. Fernando told the Business Times.
The Digital Concierge application has many benefits, he said. For starters, it provides people with consistent and accurate information. It has a single 24/7 knowledge pool that eliminates the inconsistency of human knowledge, mood and emotion.
The Digital Concierge application’s responses to simple queries are instant, relieving human agents of the repetitive, mundane inquiries, allowing them to focus on higher value interactions. It also delivers a more controlled and consistent customer experience with full insight behind the dialogue and conversation, Mr. Fernando noted.
“Digital ConciergeR platform is attracting lots of interest and we have cross industry sector opportunities working with major utilities companies, one of the world’s largest beauty companies, retail banks, automotive manufacturers, retailers, luxury brands and professional services organisations.”
That time when the rise of AI will steer in a new age of human and robotic collaboration and, most notably, the intuitiveness sought by consumers – a more automated version of business intelligence isn’t far.
(Duruthu)