By Sheldon Spackman

ATB gives students look into future of robotics in banking

Mar 29, 2018 | 2:34 PM

ATB is adding some ‘Pepper’ to its banking.

Pepper the robot has been making her way across Alberta for the last three months to gauge people’s interest and acceptance of where robots might fit in and be helpful with their banking.

The tour brought Pepper to Red Deer on Thursday where students at Maryview School and St. Thomas Aquinas Middle School saw first-hand what interactive skills and abilities Pepper’s software has to offer.

Claire Bourgeois, Channel Manager, Reputation and Brand Team – ATB, says her tour with Pepper has been a great way to see if people enjoy interacting with a robot, collect that data and get the word out about this exciting new technology and initiative.

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“Pepper is part of a transformation initiative by ATB,” explains Bourgeois. “We’re just working on looking into the different sort of innovation in robotics and AI and how that could impact our business in the future. Because we do know that technology and robotics are coming and lots of businesses are sort of adopting that model and looking into how robots could impact their business and we want to be ahead of the curve.”

“Rather than waiting until every other business has a ‘Pepper’ or something similar,” continues Bourgeois, “we want to be leaders in this industry and making sure that we are some of the first ones to really look into how the technology works.”

As for the students, Bourgeois encourages them to have an open mind when it comes to technology in their futures.

“It feels far away for them now but in a few years, they’re going to be applying for jobs and moving into the workforce,” adds Bourgeois. “It’s such a quickly changing workforce and when I was their age, I had no idea that my job would have anything to do with robotics or artificial intelligence. Now, here I am in this super exciting and very dynamic role and as long as kids this age are prepared for those changes or agile in the way that they learn, there are some really amazing opportunities that will be coming their way.”

Leo Chauvet, Assistant Principal at St. Thomas Aquinas Middle School, says it’s important for both educators and students to look towards the future, adding Pepper’s stop in Red Deer was a good opportunity to do just that.

“We’re always looking at preparing our students for the future and what their careers will be,” states Chauvet. “It’s also interesting to look at, although she seems pretty personable and pretty cute and all those things, she doesn’t quite have the humanness side of things which is something we really try to promote in our catholic schools.”

“Yes, there are a lot of things we can do with robotics and technology and the future,” admits Chauvet. “But still, there’s that basic community coming through the person that’s so important that we like to focus on.”

“We do a lot of project based learning here and I think this is something that the students can really say, ‘So how could I be a part of something like this? How could this be something that maybe is a future job for?’, so it’s looking at the 21st century.”