News
2023.09.26
Introducing Japan’s First Multilingual Chatbot for Tourist Information（※1）
Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau
JTB CorporationK
Kotozna
The Osaka Convention & Visitors Bureau, a public interest incorporated foundation (located in Chuo-ku, Osaka City, Chairman: Hiroshi Mizohata. Hereinafter referred to as the Osaka Tourism Bureau), will replace its existing AI chatbot on "OSAKA-INFO,"(※2) Osaka's official tourist information website, with a generative AI chatbot capable of handling more than 20 languages, the first of its kind in Japan, in order to enhance multilingual acceptance capabilities for the rapidly growing number of foreign visitors to Japan.
Kotozna laMondo, a multilingual AI chatbot provided by Kotozna Corporation (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director Genri Goto, hereinafter referred to as Kotozna) in collaboration with JTB Corporation (Head Office: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director and President Executive Officer: Eijiro Yamakita, hereinafter referred to as JTB), will be introduced to "OSAKA-INFO" from Monday, October 16, 2023, and will also be incorporated into "Discover Osaka," the official tourism application of the Osaka Tourism Bureau.
In preparation for the Osaka-Kansai Expo in 2025, the Osaka Tourism Bureau will use generative AI chatbots to improve the convenience of multilingual inquiries at tourist information centers and call centers and to save labor in the management of tourist information, thereby improving hospitality for and satisfaction of foreign visitors coming to Osaka.
■Features of Kotozna laMondo Customized for Osaka Tourism Bureau
- Based on information from the OSAKA-INFO and other websites that provide tourist information on Osaka, Kotozna laMondo answers travelers' questions in natural language. In addition, Kotozna laMondo is automatically updated when information is updated on the website, saving the administrator from having to update information.
- laMondo can link to specific web services and respond to information that is updated in real time, such as the weather.
- Kotozna laMondo supports more than 20 languages, and since it automatically switches the display language according to the browser language, there is no need for travelers to configure their own language settings, which greatly improves the convenience of the system.
- In the future, we plan to link this system with various other systems that will be beneficial to customers, such as reservation functions for restaurants and transportation, disaster prevention information, etc.
■What is Kotozna laMondo?
Kotozna laMondo is a service provided by Kotozna and is a multilingual AI chatbot utilizing GPT-4 (※3). Because it utilizes GPT-4, a generative AI, it is capable of natural conversational interaction. However, while these generative AIs are capable of human-like natural dialogue, they are not always accurate in answering specific questions.
Therefore, Kotozna uses unique database learning and unique prompt engineering technology (※4) to teach ChatGPT information specific to a specific business immediately before responding, thereby providing accurate and reliable information related to the business. Furthermore, Kotozna laMondo is unique in that it supports over 20 languages (※5) (Click here for details: https://kotozna.com/en/lamondo/ )
Most chatbots that predate generative AI are rule-based, and require preset answer patterns to anticipated questions. As a result, it was difficult to respond to questions that did not follow the expected sentences or were worded differently. There are high hopes for generative AI to resolve these issues.
■Osaka Tourism Bureau
An organization was established based on an agreement at a top-level meeting of Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City, and economic organizations in Osaka (Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kansai Economic Federation, Kansai Association of Corporate Executives) to strategically promote tourism in order to attract visitors under an all-Osaka structure. The organization aims to revitalize the local economy by utilizing Osaka's historical, cultural, and economic characteristics, and by conducting projects related to the promotion of tourism and the attraction and support of MICE events based on marketing strategies. The purpose is to contribute to the development of Osaka as an international tourist and cultural city open to the world, as well as to the improvement and development of the lives, culture, and economy of the people of Osaka and to international goodwill.
■JTB Corporation
JTB's business domain is "Exchange Creation Business", and they are working to solve regional and social issues by designing connections for people, places, and exchanges. As a Gold Partner of the Osaka Tourism Bureau from 2019, we are committed to enhancing the attractiveness of Osaka by leveraging our internal and external resources and networks.
■Kotozna
Kotozna aims to overcome the language barrier by leveraging social innovation and cutting-edge technologies. Taking advantage of our capital and business alliance with JTB in 2020, we are working with JTB to strengthen hospitality for domestic and international travelers with solutions such as "Kotozna In-room" and "Kotozna la Mondo" specializing in travel tech.
（References）
■A demo exhibition of Kotozna laMondo will be held at CEATEC 2023 (※6), one of the largest IT exhibitions in Asia. You can
experience a demo of Kotozna laMondo for Osaka Tourism Bureau lodging operators at the JTB booth at CEATEC 2023, the international IT technology and electronics exhibition.
※1 Researched by Kotozna (surveyed tourist information sites of major local government tourism
associations and DMOs from July to August 2023)
※2 OSAKA-INFO is the official prefectural tourism information site, and is the most viewed website on PCs and the second most viewed on smartphones. (Quoted from Japan Tourism Promotion Association “2022 Tourism-related Site Viewer Ranking”)
※3 GPT-4 is the latest version of ChatGPT, an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI. It generates conversations on a wide range of topics. It utilizes a large amount of text data for training and is capable of generating natural language conversations similar to those of humans. Features include the ability to generate natural language using LLM (Large Language Model), released on March 14, 2023, which is more creative, more reliable, and more responsive to detailed instructions than previous versions.
※4 Prompt engineering is the process of structuring instructional text so that it can be interpreted and understood by a generative artificial intelligence (generative AI) model.
※5 English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Japanese, Korean, Russian, Dutch, Turkish, Polish, Romanian, Greek, Ukrainian, Finnish, Swedish, Thai, Czech, Norwegian, etc.
※6 CEATEC 2023 Booth Overview
Dates: Tuesday, October 17 to Friday, October 20, 2023, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue: Makuhari Messe (2-1 Nakase, Mihama-ku, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture) JTB Booth
Admission: Free *Online registration is required for admission.
https://www.ceatec.com/en/
＜Contact point for inquiries＞
■For inquiries from the press
Osaka Tourism Bureau Public Relations and External Affairs Office TEL: 06-6282-5914
JTB Corporation JTB Public Relations Office, TEL: 06-6260-5108 (Osaka), 03-5796-5833 (Tokyo)
Kotozna Kotozna PR Office: Hoshi, Takebe mail:kotoznapress@power-d.tokyo mobile:090-1631-8467
■For inquiries from tourism businesses, please contact
Kotozna In-room Office in JTB Osaka Division 1
TEL：06-6260-0106 (9:30～17:30, closed on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays) E-mail: kotozna@jtb.com