Hyundai DAL-e AI Customer Service Robot launched

Hyundai Motor Group has launched a new humanoid customer service robot called DAL-e that it hopes will become your local Hyundai or Kia's dealer concierge.

Said to incorporate state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and facial recognition, the new DAL-e (Drive you, Assist you, Link with you experience) droid is claimed to be able to mimic human interaction and communicate with customers.

Post the COVID-19 pandemic, Hyundai thinks in future there will be far less physical contact between its employees and its customers, so the DAL-e has been created to perform everyday tasks a dealer's receptionist or concierge would carry out.

Measuring 1160mm tall and weighing 80kg, the new robot has been launched at a flagship Hyundai dealership in Seoul, but is expected to be rolled out to other dealers within South Korea shortly.

As well as greeting you with natural speak, the DAL-e can project emoticons on its chest and will ask you politely to wear a mask.

The humanoid bot can also provide information about products, book your car in for a service and respond to both verbal and touch-screen commands.

The robot can also guide customers to different locations within the showroom thanks to its four omnidirectional wheels.

The DAL-e is programmed to entertain customers waiting for a salesperson, connecting wirelessly to a large screen within the venue and asking visitors to take selfies with it.

In the future, Hyundai Motor says the DAL-e will be capable of being upgraded to expand its duties based on data gathered from what will, for now, be a pilot program.

Recently, Hyundai Motor Group confirmed it was expanding its robotics business following its purchase of a controlling stake in US-based robot-maker Boston Dynamics in a deal reportedly worth more than $US1.1 billion ($A1.5bn).

Buying Boston Dynamics will help Hyundai branch out into making drones and robots and help it broaden its mobility vehicle offerings, the Korean car-maker said.