By Ray Birch
MOON TOWNSHIP, Penn.—Do consumers prefer listening to a robot talk about financial services rather than a member service rep or teller?
One credit union that is using a robot contends that’s often the case.
As CUToday.info reported earlier here, Clearview FCU here has introduced its membership to “Pepper,” which it said is the world’s first social humanoid robot able to recognize faces and basic human emotions. The four-foot-tall Pepper was created by SoftBank Robotics and is optimized for human interaction and is able to engage with people through conversation and a touch-screen on its chest.
“Whether Pepper is located in one of our offices or we take Pepper out into the community, people are drawn to our robot,” said Bill Snider, director of digital experience at $1.2-billion Clearview. “They all have the same reaction; they are really interested in Pepper and engage with Pepper. We find people don’t always want to talk with a banking person, but they will always talk to our robot about banking.”
‘Amazed’ By Response
Snider said he was “amazed” the first time he interacted with Pepper by what the robot could do and how it spoke and responded.
“Pepper, which can speak 15 different languages, allows us to tell our story in a unique way, and that tends to stick with individuals as opposed to talking with them at the teller line or sending them an email or brochure,” said Snider. “Pepper allows us to talk about technology and solutions in a way most people have never experienced before. You can talk to a person of read a brochure, but when a robot speaks you pay attention.”
Snider said Pepper is designed to read people’s faces and emotions to influence how it responds to a person, and is programmed to follow a person’s movements so the interaction is much like talking to a person. He said the gender-neutral Pepper, whose voice reflects that, is built to interact with consumers in a variety of ways.
“It can tell stories, answer questions, take selfies and dance,” Snider said. “Pepper can act as a receptionist, give people directions, find out who they have come to see and call the individual to the front of the branch, tell the person where to go…”
Pepper is stationary, and does not travel about in the office, but its head and arms move and it pivots at its waistline.
“Pepper has built-in cameras in its eyes and also has a microphone in its head,” explained Snider. “Pepper not only has the ability to hear a person but see them as well. Pepper will scan an area and look for individuals, and if it does not see anyone nearby it will gesture to get people to come over. That’s what it does when people are not directly around it. When someone approaches, Pepper recognizes that and switches to interactive mode.”
Programmed ‘Stories’
What Pepper talks about, either through programmed “stories,” through FAQs on its touch screen, or via direct conversations is set by the credit union.
“Through a web interface we can upload information, such as talk tracks or stories,” Snider said. “Some of the stories are about our products and services, some
about the history of the credit union, how to join…We will also have Pepper talk about special promotions we’re running.”
Snider said Pepper “listens” for key words to detect what a person might be interested in hearing. He also said it records emotions and reactions from people to the information it shares.
“With the cameras in its eyes, when it is talking, Pepper is scanning the individual in front of it and reading emotions,” explained Snider. “Pepper then stores the data and reports back to us how people are responding to various aspects of the credit union. Pepper can tell if someone is happy, sad, or apathetic.”
‘Part of the Family’
Through Pepper’s reporting and analytics platform the CU knows, for example, how many people Pepper speaks with, and what are the most popular topics Pepper covers.
“We can also learn the areas of the credit union, the branches, and the areas of the community where Pepper has the greatest impact,” explained Snider. “That helps us determine where Pepper should be located.”
Pepper has been largely located in the lobby of its Moon Township headquarters, he said.
Snider said Pepper has become “part of the Clearview family,” and is helping to increase awareness of the credit union.
“When people see Pepper for the first time, it’s not unusual for them to stop back a day later to show Pepper to friend or family member,” said Snider.
Limited AI Capabilities
Pepper has “limited” artificial intelligence capabilities, noted Snider.
“AI is used for scanning areas and people’s faces and reading emotions,” he said, adding the robot’s overall capabilities will expand in the coming years, especially since the unit has potential to do a great deal more. “And AI helps make Pepper’s conversation more natural.”
“One day Pepper could augment our staff, possibly open accounts and help with transactions,” continued Snider. “Pepper will never replace staff, just eventually allow them to do more important things and even help out in a pinch when someone calls in sick.”
Snider added that staff have not expressed concerns about Pepper, or other forms of robotics, replacing their roles.
Worthwhile Investment
While not sharing costs for Pepper, Snider said the robot is a worthwhile investment, especially when compared to other options the credit union had been considering. He said Pepper has enhanced the credit union’s image as a progressive financial institution that is in step with the latest technology.
“We had been looking at video walls, video floors and other technology to advance our offices,” explained Snider. “But we feel Pepper was the best choice. It’s just so unique, no one else has this technology in our market and really sets us apart. And Pepper is just so much more versatile, with such a greater upside, than other form of technology we could have added.”