South Korea: AI-powered robots help travelers at Incheon Int'l Airport

Incheon International Airport has hired a new breed of helpers for travelers: robots. Fourteen artificial intelligence-powered robots will start roaming the bustling airport from July 21, guiding people who are lost and offering information on flight schedules, check-in procedures and other useful advice. Eight will work at Terminal 1 and six at Terminal 2. The robots, named Air Star, have advanced technologies, including self-driving, voice recognition and artificial intelligence. They interact with people through a touch screen, embedded microphone and barcode scanner. They can speak and offer information in four languages ― Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese ― and can visualize 14 emotions on their head screen. "We will continue to introduce high-end technologies to make the airport smarter," airport CEO Chung Il-young said. <br/>