Mehrere Linux-Patches zeigen, dass Intel noch eine 14-nm-Generation veröffentlichen wird: Für stationäre Systeme gibt es zehn CPU-Kerne, für Ultrabooks sind es sechs und für Notebooks gleich acht. (Prozessor, Intel)
Quelle: Golem
Insider-Informationen zufolge hat Google Dutzende Ingenieure und Manager von seiner für Notebooks und Tablets zuständigen Hardware-Abteilung abgezogen und auf andere Bereiche des Unternehmens verteilt. Beteiligte sprechen von einer Ausdünnung des künftigen Portfolios. (Google, Notebook)
Quelle: Golem
Mit dem März-Patchday werden wieder zahlreiche Sicherheitslücken geschlossen. Viele davon sind kritisch, so dass möglichst schnell gepatcht werden sollte. Einige erlauben das Erschleichen höherer Rechte und betreffen Microsoft Edge. (Patchday, Microsoft)
Quelle: Golem
Spotify hat bei der EU-Kommission Beschwerde gegen Apple eingereicht. Der Vorwurf lautet, dass Apple den Wettbewerb behindert. Der iPhone-Hersteller sei Anbieter und Konkurrent zugleich und verschaffe sich Vorteile gegenüber anderen Musik-Streaming-Apps. (Spotify, Apple)
Quelle: Golem
Wegen eines bekannten Softwarefehlers wird der Flugbetrieb für Boeings neustes Flugzeug fast weltweit eingestellt – Ausnahme: die USA. Der Umgang der amerikanischen Flugaufsichtsbehörde mit den Problemen des neuen Flugzeugs erscheint zweifelhaft. (Boeing, Applikationen)
Quelle: Golem
Bereits im Januar 2019 gab es erste Gerüchte, dass Lenovo unter der alten Motorola-Marke Razr ein Smartphone mit faltbarem Display veröffentlichen will. Nun gibt es neue Hinweise auf die Hardware: Zum Einsatz könnte ein Oberklasse-SoC von Qualcomm kommen. (Lenovo, Smartphone)
Quelle: Golem
Die aktuelle Version 73 des Chrome-Browsers unterstützt die signierte Weitergabe von Web-Inhalten unabhängig vom Originalserver. Außerdem laufen die Progressive Web Apps jetzt auch auf MacOS und der Browser unterstützt die Videokontrolle per Tastatur. (Chrome, Google)
Quelle: Golem
According to Investopedia, financial technology has grown explosively since the mobile internet and smartphone revolution. Originally referring to computer technology applied to the back office of banks or trading firms, “fintech” now describes a variety of financial activities, from depositing a check with a smartphone to managing investments, generally without the assistance of a person.
Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, Allianz AG is a life insurance company that provides private and corporate customers an array of life, accident and health insurance products.
Because the population in Taiwan is so tech savvy and keen to try new things, Allianz constantly strives to innovate to keep up with the demands of customers.
We at Allianz knew that artificial intelligence (AI) technology would be a way to enhance the customer experience and thus created a cognitive virtual assistant called “Allie.”
A virtual assistant any time
Allie is fluent in Mandarin and handles 80 percent of the inbound customer requests to call centers for Allianz. Callers can ask almost any question related to insurance policies at any time of day. Allie is not just a database for FAQs, she can also handle policy changes. Her answers avoid insurance jargon and complex terminology. Allie explains the answers in simple ways that people understand while following regulations and legal compliance guidelines.
We are focusing more now on the human component. To do that, we’ve included some small talk capabilities. Many customers begin their chats with questions like “How’s the weather?” and we think that enabling Allie to have natural conversations with people will drive social adoption.
Taiwanese people appreciate Allie’s cute answers to these types of questions, but in the end, it’s still an insurance business, so Allie keeps the conversation professional.
Working with IBM
Allianz worked with IBM Global Business Services to develop the virtual assistant. Allie uses the IBM Watson Assistant service and runs on IBM Cloud.
We chose IBM not only because we believe IBM Watson is one of the strongest AI engines on the market, but also because IBM developed a sort of middle layer, which enables our data to remain on-premises.
When the customer is engaged with Allie, the question that the customer is asking goes to IBM Watson on the cloud. Watson understands the question, determines the intent, then transfers the request to the middle layer, which either calls upon our back-end technology or provides the answer to the customer, but not through the cloud. This means that policy inquiry data and policy change items are more secure, which, from a legal and regulatory point of view, is a very smooth solution.
The middle layer is open source, so we can continue training IBM Watson and adding more to the knowledge base as well as integrate APIs all on our own. IBM delivered intensive training and our IT and business staff are able to execute certain scenarios without additional assistance.
So, for example, if we need to make a quick update, we can do this without any support from IBM. We are not totally dependent and instead, we can work with IBM on more complex aspects of the project.
Our first discussions with IBM about developing a virtual assistant were around October 2017. We officially kicked-off the project in November 2017 and launched at the end of May 2018. Our first minimum viable product actually had a very broad scope with more than 20 APIs integrated to get policy inquiry and policy change information.
We are very proud of what we have achieved with IBM in such a short period of time.
Positive customer feedback
We launched with a big media event together with IBM last year, and the feedback here was very positive from both the market and customers. Allie’s customer rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars, and the company’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) continues to increase, suggesting that Allianz customers would recommend Allianz to others.
Another key performance indicator (KPI) that we identified, which was surprising, actually, is that 45 percent of our requests come in before and after business hours. This is quite a high number, and before Allie, we were not able to answer all these requests because our call center is only open from 9 AM to 6 PM.
The next step will be to expand Allie across channels to offer virtual assistant capabilities to agents and bankers in addition to customers.
Read the case study for more details.
The post Providing around-the-clock call center support using a cognitive virtual assistant appeared first on Cloud computing news.
Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud
In der Schweiz beginnt ein Test für den kommerziellen Betrieb von Drohnen innerhalb eines kontrollierten Luftraums. Wenn alles gut geht, wird die Schweiz schon Mitte des Jahres 2019 ein funktionsfähiges System haben, das eventuell von der EU übernommen wird. (Drohne, Applikationen)
Quelle: Golem
Das nächste private Raumfahrtunternehmen aus China ist startklar: Onespace will in den kommenden zwei Wochen erstmals eine Rakete in die Erdumlaufbahn schießen. (Raumfahrt, Technologie)
Quelle: Golem
