BENGALURU: Recently, China’s Xinhua news agency unveiled the world’s first ever Artificial Intelligence (AI) news anchor. An AI system has been used to synthesise his voice, lip movements and expressions, based on those of ‘real’ Xinhua presenters. Closer home, India too seems to be making headway with artificial intelligence and is seeing an upsurge in the use of AI, chatbots and robots in multiple areas. From finding love to losing weight, AI is changing the way Indians carry out their day-to-day lives. City Express speaks to some makers and users of AI platforms to understand where the appeal comes from.
Health and Fitness
In January this year, health and fitness app HealthifyMe launched Ria, an AI nutritionist that would be able to help users with all health-related needs. Tushar Vashisht, co-founder of the app, explains that users who subscribe for the premium plan have the option of talking to a certified human coach or Ria. “Users voluntarily choose to interact with Ria and 51 per cent of all interactions are directed towards her,” he says.
In nine months, Ria’s usage went up from five to 51 per cent. Tier II cities, he says, form about half their paid user base, since “they have lesser access to qualified nutritionists and trainers and this app helps bridge the gap.”For Dr Amrutha P, a Bengaluru-based user of Ria, accessibility was the winning factor. “You get about 15 minutes of time with a coach. Sometimes, you forget to ask something. But Ria is available 24/7 and responds immediately,” she says. Earlier, Amrutha mainly used the app to key-in her calorie consumption for the day. “Now, Ria also looks at what I’ve eaten and suggests healthier alternatives for me to incorporate instead,” she adds. Another user, Mohana Narayan, agrees, adding that the encouraging responses from the AI coach are motivating.
Bookings
In 2015, Sachin Jaiswal realised that users in India are still uncomfortable using a computer. This gave birth to niki.ai, a platfom that aims to solve the literacy barrier. Sachin explains that Niki acts like an agent, “that lets you talk to her and make a booking for bus tickets, bills or any other service on your behalf.” When the platform was launched, Sachin was unsure if people would be comfortable talking to or willing to trust a bot with their money.
He says, “The response has been overwhelming - more than 30 lakh users have used the bot, with 20 per cent growth month-on-month.”The platform sees transactions worth five lakh rupees from Bengaluru daily. Ranjeet, a city-based user of the app says the reduced number of clicks in completing his transactions is what makes the platform appealing to him. “Ever since the voice feature was launched in September this year, it’s become even more convenient to rely on the platform. I mainly use it to book my movie tickets or pay my electricity and phone bills,” he says.
Matchmaking
If Tinder, Hinge and Woo aren’t giving you the results you want, AI app Banihal aims to do something different by using neuroscience to introduce humans to people who can understand them better. Ishdeep Sawhney, founder and CEO, says that with existing solutions, an individual can easily spend up to a year looking for the right match.
“We are using AI because it enables us to find the right match, based on the information users share. We can find a match in three months,” he says.Explaining how the platform works, he says, “Three categories are used to acquire user information for the right app. First, general information about age, height, education, etc. Second, information about family and social aspects. Third, a psychological profile about the outlook one has about the world with aspects such as empathy and respect for others.” Following this, Banihal makes introductions for a mutual match.The app reveals that girls from Bengaluru take two days to reply to a match, as opposed to a day in Delhi or Mumbai. Twenty six per cent requests get a response within 24 hours, and 60 per cent get a response within 48 hours. “It goes to say that finding the right match takes more thoughtful action than a split second swiping decision,” he explains.
Food
In April last year, diners at VR Mall’s food court witnessed a friendly robot BOB (Butler ‘O’ Bistro) serve them their food. BOB was conceptualised and developed by members from SP Robotic Works, namely Arjun, Anish, Srivatsan Varsha, aged 13, 12, 13, and 20, respectively, at the time of building the robot. In November last year, Bangalore-based Mechanical Chef unveiled a first-of-its-kind cooking robot for home users that was equipped to cook around 20 dishes, including upma, matar paneer, bisi bale bath and potato fries. Both the projects, however, were prototypes. While BOB was developed for a more educative and experimental purpose, Mechanical Chef is now working on the advanced prototype of its cooking robot. Cohan Sujay Carlos, founder of Mechanical Chef, says their consumer survey revealed both positive and negative feedback. “The older generation, mainly women above the age of 40, are strictly avoidant of such developments. The younger generation, especially working women, love the idea of coming home to a ready home-cooked meal,” says Cohan. He also reveals that bachelors have also shown a keen interest in the robot, which is about two years away from being commercially available.