ʻĀina Haina Public Library was given a humanoid robot named Pepper to help library patrons with greeting visitors, promoting programs and leading story times.
Standing at least 4 feet tall and weighing 42 pounds, Pepper has human-like hands and moves on wheels. Library goers can interact with it through voice, gestures and a touch screen.
At a Wednesday news conference, Pepper made its debut at the East Honolulu library where it answered questions on where to find children’s books and danced while playing music. Pepper, which is powered by artificial intelligence, can even be tickled on its heads and will giggle.
The robot was donated by the nonprofit Friends of the Library of Hawaiʻi. Pepper costs $40,000, with an anonymous donor funding $25,000 and the nonprofit paying for the rest.
Executive Director Nainoa Mau said the point of the library having Pepper was so the community can interact with and talk to a humanoid robot.
“She answers them back. She's AI-capable, she's not AI-enabled,” Mau said.
Robotics have been included into people's daily lives, such as self-driving cars, food deliveries and engaging in social interactions. Social robots have been adopted across the U.S. and various countries in recent years.
Mau underscored the need for human librarians, and that Pepper will not ultimately replace them.
“The librarians are the connectors to all of this different information, and the library is the access point, so I don't see the people going away,” Mau said.
Pepper was introduced in Japan in 2014 by Softbank Robotics and manufactured in 2020.
One of its key features is facial recognition. Its battery can last up to eight hours.
Mau said the AI portion of Pepper is turned off due to an issue with the technology called AI hallucination. That's when generative AI systems, which use large language models, produces inaccurate or illogical information.
He also said that he hopes more types robotic technology can be used throughout the library system.
“Robots are actually better at interacting with people or special needs people than other humans,” he said.
A group of librarians are still programming Pepper to answer certain questions about library services. Pepper's voice is quite loud, but Mau said that the library doesn't always have to be quiet.
State Librarian Stacey Aldrich that the state public library system is looking at ways to incorporate more technology across the state.
“There are new robots coming, there are household robots that are coming out, and we've been continuing to work with our friends to do innovative projects like Pepper and the newer technologies in the library,” she said.
