On Thursday, IBM Israel held the annual conference "Watson TLV Summit", in which it hosted the best experts from Israel and the world in the fields of cognitive computing, cloud, analytics, information security and cyber. At the conference exhibition, innovative technological solutions developed in the research laboratory in Haifa and the company's headquarters in Israel were presented. These solutions are based on the artificial intelligence system Watson from IBM.
The conference, which took place at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv, was attended by about 1,500 people from the Israeli high-tech industry - including senior executives of technology companies from the private and public sector, developers, start-ups and high school students who came to learn about cognitive computing in general and the world of Watson artificial intelligence in particular.
A cognitive chatbot in Hebrew
One of the new solutions presented is a smart chatbot, Hebrew-supporting, based on artificial intelligence. The innovative chatbot has a number of unique characteristics, which distinguish it from traditional chatbots - this is thanks to the use of a variety of Watson applications. The use of natural language processing and artificial intelligence provides him with learning abilities and enables him to understand the language in its various contexts and on this basis to understand the client's intention. For example, a customer requesting a service, such as information about an insurance policy, or a request to change an appointment with a doctor, could use a variety of wording of the question or request. The system will recognize the customer's desire or intent, even if he uses a question or request that has not been defined in advance - this is different from traditional chat bots, whose knowledge is relatively limited and they are programmed to answer a predetermined conversation script. IBM's new chat bot understands the context of the conversation and is ready to handle a wider range of inquiries, as well as identify a negative sentiment or feeling of difficulty on the part of the customer and knows how to respond accordingly.
Another advantage is reflected in the ease of use of the product by business users - through learning the system and operating it do not require practical knowledge of technology and there is no need for software or code to operate it. It is also possible to integrate the chat bot into other systems of the organization, including: websites, mobile, RMC and information security systems, identification applications and other organizational systems that expand its capabilities. For example, submitting a query about the existing text in a contract or policy and receiving insights accordingly.
According to Naftali Gefen, Watson Operations Manager at IBM Israel: "Our news is that the new chat bot we have revealed has extensive capabilities beyond the use of existing templates that allow understanding the customer's intent. In addition, it is linked to other internal and external systems and makes it possible to bring additional information from there with which smart answers can be adapted to the user. This ability creates a unique customer experience that is expressed in providing good service and quick and professional answers. "
"Home hospitalization system" based on artificial intelligence and - IoT
Another innovative solution presented is in the field of remote medicine - a "home hospitalization system", based on artificial intelligence and IoT, which helps to deal with the increasing crowding in hospitals, alongside the ability to provide an adequate service and save the state the high costs of hospitalization. IBM's solution includes a package of services for the patient, which will enable treatment at home, when the medical staff will be able to monitor him on an ongoing basis, manage his treatment plan and supervise its execution, and even automatically predict the likelihood of improvement or worsening of his condition.
Beyond helping to deal with the problem of the lack of beds in hospitals, IBM's solution may alleviate other issues, for example for the elderly population, every hospitalization exposes them to various infections and increases their sense of frustration and illness. In many cases, this population mainly needs medical supervision and monitoring, which in fact can also be carried out remotely - using the new technological solution.
IBM provides an end-to-end solution, which includes several components: medical sensors, Home Hub - a platform accessible on the iPad that connects to the sensors, collects the information and enables its transmission to the network. This platform enables a connection between the patient and the medical service provider - so that the service provider feeds his insights to her in real time and through which the patient can view the medical information, the test results and document his adherence to the treatment plan (reporting taking medications, maintaining a nutritional regimen or performing various exercises). In addition, the platform includes care management systems used by the medical staff (Care Management) and integration with existing systems of the medical insurer. Another advantage lies in IBM's ability to provide programs for managing the treatment of specific chronic diseases - based on IBM's extensive accumulated experience around the world.
According to Ile Kot, chief architect and director of the health sector in the services division of IBM Israel: "We enable our customers to set up a total solution, from the hardware to the service, under one roof. Through the use of IoT and artificial intelligence, it is now possible to monitor patients remotely, in an efficient and cost-effective manner and not to compromise on the quality of the medical diagnosis or even more. Recently, the Israeli Ministry of Health published clear instructions on the subject, which will allow hospitals to introduce these services, which will enable advanced and high-quality medicine, improve the health of patients and increase their satisfaction. All this while saving considerable money for insurers."
A smart "personal assistant".
Another unique development that was presented is a "personal assistant" based on artificial intelligence - the result of the development of the research laboratory in Haifa, which aims to help employees manage their working day and improve their efficiency. In order to adapt itself to the end user, the personal assistant learns the profile of the employee - areas of interest, projects in which he is involved, his network of organizational connections as well as the current context: the location of the employee, his current task and more. In addition, it uses the feedback it receives from the user to learn and improve. The smart "personal assistant" has several innovative capabilities:
'Get ready for your workday' - The "personal assistant" prepares the employee for his day, during the trip to work and thus saves him valuable time. This ability includes a summary of the things that happened during the night, based on a variety of systems such as the e-mail box, the social network and business systems, simple navigation in the daily schedule and the ability to receive insights such as: are there overlapping meetings, which meetings are important, which can be skipped , who is participating in the meeting and who has not confirmed their participation and more. With the help of the voice interface, the user can perform simple actions such as answering an e-mail, sending a message in a group chat, confirming or canceling participation in a meeting.
Preparation for the meeting - The "personal assistant" helps the employee prepare for the upcoming meeting by analyzing the meeting data and preparing a concise summary that includes the agenda, participants, summaries of previous meetings and a summary of decisions and tasks to be carried out that were included in them. He also recommends additional relevant content, such as e-mails or documents that the employee can review in order to arrive better prepared for the meeting, while significantly saving time.
Custom summary of chat conversations– designed to help employees who return to their group chat system after being busy with another task, out of the office or on vacation. The "personal assistant" summarizes for the employee the main topics, conversations and messages that he "missed" on the various channels, during his absence. The summary is personalized to the user, according to the topics that interest him and the people he works with, and is hierarchical so that the employee can decide if the summary is enough or if he wants to read the content of the conversation in its entirety. Summarizing the chat conversations eliminates the need to read the chat conversations in full and allows a huge saving of time and a lot of focus.
According to Sheila Ofek-Koipman, director of cognitive analytics in the research laboratory of IBM In Haifa: "The "personal assistant" we developed is designed to deal with the productivity paradox, which characterizes the digital age: the more tools and communication channels we use - the busier we become, the more often our attention is interrupted and the less we get enough. As employees, we are flooded with a lot of information such as documents, e-mails, chat conversations, which we do not read and respond to in time; We are invited to many yeshiva, most of which we arrive unprepared, due to lack of time, and thus the effectiveness of the yeshiva is compromised; A lot of time is wasted searching for relevant material, which we know exists but don't remember where it is, or for the relevant expert in the organization and more."
Kuipman She adds that "it is a unique tool that helps both the employee and the organization to significantly optimize both time and resources and allows the employee to perform his work both faster and better."
Using cognitive augmented reality technology to repair devices
In the field of augmented reality, the first examples of the combination between Watson (IBM's cognitive computing system) and augmented reality technology (Augmented/Mixed Reality) were presented at the conference - which can help repair electronic devices, and many other operations. A significant part of IBM's research and development activity in this integrated field is carried out in the company's research laboratories in Haifa.
Among other things, watch the conference island in a situation that many users encounter - handling a malfunctioning personal computer. An augmented reality layer displayed through an iPad screen on top of a real-time video display of the malfunctioning computer, allows you to get information about it. Also, to guide the user in the repair and replacement process, location of parts, the possibility of ordering parts, and even connectivity to sensors in the case of the Internet of Things (IOT). This technology is initially intended as an assistant to a technician with the goal of becoming a super technician, but end users will also be able to use it in the future and repair devices without the initial help of a technician. Among other things, this ability is valid for repairing various vehicles, electronic and industrial equipment, such as an engine, machine, computer or household appliances.
Cognitive augmented reality combines machine vision, real-time spatial tracking, conversation with the computer in free speech, computer recognition of body gestures, integration of wearable computing, analysis and understanding of content contexts, reference to the history of interaction with a particular user, and deep learning technologies.
Beyond computer vision and spatial tracking, which support the core capabilities of augmented reality applications, reserve a central place in the solutions developed by IBM for managing interaction in natural language. These systems know how to identify not only the text spoken by the user - but also the context in which the dialogue is conducted.
Cognitive solutions allow the machine to understand the meaning of the content - even when the speech is not compiled as a complete and orderly sentence. The system knows the history of the interaction with a certain user, understands the context in which the current interaction takes place, recognizes visual, textual elements and body gestures - and enables a new level of cognitive application. For this purpose, the aspect of augmented reality must be combined - the ability of an end user to point to a point in a dishwasher or in a car and ask "what is it?", "where is it?", or "how do you replace it?". In order to get a detailed answer, there is a cognitive system that works in the background, and integrates all the information. Examining the results allows the deep learning technologies to continue to improve over time, following information accumulated from each interaction.
Dr. Eitan Hadar, director of cognitive vision and augmented reality in the research laboratory of IBM In Haifa: "In the technical world in the manufacturing industry or in the field of service providers, technology is especially important for those who have no practical experience or who have passed a long time since their training period. The system 'sees and feels' the same reality that the technician sees, analyzes it, and presents layers of information on top of it that are anchored to the reality surrounding the technician in general and in the context of the repair in particular. At the same time, the user/technician can conduct a voice conversation with the system or with a remote human supervisor, pose questions and receive cognitive guidance in normal speech or through augmented reality vision guidance."
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