IBM’s Watson Will Guide Shoppers Through Macy’s Stores

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To date, IBM‘s artificial intelligence engine Watson has scored its highest-profile victory when it triumphed against two human opponents in a real-time episode of “Jeopardy.” However, it might get even more play in the hands of Macy’s shoppers.

Mashable is reporting that Macy’s and IBM have finalized a deal to leverage Watson’s AI infrastructure as a mobile customer service representative in every consumer’s pocket. When in a Macy’s store front, shoppers simply need to pull out their smartphones, tap up macys.com/storehelp in a browser and talk to Watson as they normally would one of Macy’s carbon-based customer service representatives.

The system is live in 10 Macy’s locations as of Wednesday (July 20), and current available languages include English and Spanish. Mashable noted that the retailer has yet to make a decision whether it will be expanded to other stores across the country, but if the consumer response to other voice-activated products is any indication, Macy’s better start planning its rollout sooner rather than later.