How Is Artificial Intelligence Revolutionizing Cleaning Services?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the cleaning industry by introducing innovations that boost efficiency and accuracy. How is artificial intelligence revolutionizing cleaning services? From chatbots managing customer inquiries to advanced cleaning robots learning and adapting to their environments, AI is streamlining processes that once required continuous human oversight. Today’s cleaning robots can memorize routes, detect obstacles, and adjust to different spaces, making them ideal for busy commercial areas. Cobots, or collaborative robots, assist humans with repetitive tasks, allowing teams to focus on deep cleaning and enhancing customer satisfaction. Beyond efficiency, AI supports staff well-being by reducing physical strain from demanding tasks. Undoubtedly, AI represents the future of professional cleaning services.
What Is Artificial Intelligence And How Does It Contribute To The Cleaning Market?
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to systems that mimic human intelligence to perform tasks, learning from experience, data, and interactions. In the cleaning industry, AI is revolutionizing how we think about maintaining cleanliness in both residential and commercial spaces. AI-powered tools and robotics can now tackle tasks like scheduling, monitoring, and even performing complex cleaning routines with precision, and as they gather more data, they can adapt to improve efficiency.
How is AI Impacting Cleaning Services?
Artificial intelligence influences cleaning services by integrating memory and learning capabilities that enable robots to optimize their cleaning routes and methods over time. This transformation manifests through various applications, such as:
1. Chatbots and Customer Interaction
Customer service chatbots are increasingly used in cleaning services to answer queries, provide quotes, and schedule appointments instantly. By analyzing customer inquiries, chatbots learn common questions and can even predict user needs over time. This innovation enhances efficiency, reduces wait times, and improves customer satisfaction.
2. Robotic Cleaning Assistants
Intelligent robots have gained popularity for performing basic cleaning tasks autonomously. These robots, equipped with sensors and learning algorithms, can navigate spaces, detect obstacles, and map cleaning paths. For instance, robotic vacuums in commercial buildings can memorize floor layouts and adapt to different environments, whether it’s a bustling office or a quiet residential home.
3. Evolution of Cleaning Robots: From Early Designs to Modern Innovations
The idea of robot cleaning assistants isn’t new. In 1978, “Chiritorie,” an early robot vacuum controlled by a remote, hit the market. Although it had limitations, it marked the beginning of automated cleaning. Today’s robotic cleaners, such as Roomba, use advanced sensors to avoid obstacles and ultrasonic sensors to detect transparent surfaces—useful in environments like retail spaces or large refrigerated storage areas.
The Role of AI in Large-Scale Commercial Cleaning
In commercial spaces, AI’s ability to support routine maintenance and environmental monitoring is invaluable. Robots with advanced sensors can monitor air quality, temperature, and even detect hazardous substances, creating safer environments for employees and customers. Robots like “Pepper” and “Ballie” have been developed as friendly assistants to humans, and in the future, they could support not only cleaning but also other aspects of commercial operations, from energy management to customer service.
Challenges and Considerations for AI in Cleaning
Despite its many benefits, fully integrating AI into the cleaning industry presents certain challenges, such as:
- Adaptability: Robots are programmed for repetitive tasks, but they may struggle in unpredictable environments. For instance, in high-traffic spaces, they might find it challenging to quickly adapt to layout changes.
- Customer Perception: For companies, implementing AI cleaning can enhance brand perception by demonstrating a clean and advanced environment. However, customers may find robots intrusive if they block passageways, especially during business hours.
- Cost: The initial costs of AI-based systems can be high, which might be a barrier for smaller companies. However, increased productivity and reduced labor burden on repetitive tasks often justify the investment in the long term.
Cobots: A Promising Technology in the Cleaning Sector
An emerging technology in cleaning is “cobotics.” Cobots, or collaborative robots, are designed to work alongside humans, taking on repetitive tasks like surface cleaning while staff focus on more in-depth disinfecting. These cobots can also handle hazardous tasks, reducing the risk for human workers. Cobotics is not about replacing human work but rather supporting staff with advanced technology that makes the job more efficient.
Applications of AI for Cleaning Staff Well-being
AI is not limited to physical cleaning. There are AI applications designed to monitor the health and well-being of cleaning staff, with tools that can predict muscle injuries and potential ailments. This allows cleaning personnel to better care for their health and avoid work fatigue, as AI helps identify when a worker might be at risk of injury due to repetitive movements.
How close are we to being able to automate 100% of cleaning tasks with intelligent robots? Is it a distant dream?
When we talk about artificial intelligence, many people think of a distant future with flying cars and fancy clothes. However, artificial intelligence is already an everyday part of many of our lives. From when we search in our browser, to the code that runs social networks.
In this case we will talk about intelligent robots that are capable of vacuuming the floor, learning the layout of your business premises.
The idea of robot cleaning assistants has become popular in recent years, but it is an idea from 1978. Chiritorie was a device that “cleaned” by suction, this device hit everything in its path, it was very big, heavy and controlled by remote control. At that time there were not the technological advances necessary for such an idea to be viable.
Today’s Robots have anti-shock sensors that daily nourish the brain of this machine, making the machine memorize where it can and cannot go. Ultrasonic sensors help robots detect transparent elements. For the commercial sector, this could help to complement some tasks or clean very cold areas such as large refrigerators.
Pepper
Large companies are working on the development of this intelligence to make our lives easier. A breakthrough in this regard is “Pepper”, the first robot designed to live with humans. The dream of this breakthrough is that robots will be able to help with cleaning tasks, take care of people and provide medical assistance. To make this idea a reality will still take a few years.
In the wake of the recent global pandemic, cleaning has become a high priority for anyone with a business. Many people resorted to hiring commercial cleaning services, while others opted to support the staff with robotic cleaners.
In a clear example we have data from Brain Corp , which in 2020 increased by 300% the deployment of robotic cleaners. These robots generated 7.6 million hours of additional productivity. These are brutal numbers, but we consider that today you can’t just let the robot do all the work. Supervisors are needed.
Customer Experience
This is an interesting point, robots can help to improve the value of the brand, by presenting something unusual, you will immediately capture the attention of your customers. There can be negative points here, as these cleaning robots do not expect more obstacles than they have already studied, it will be very annoying to keep these robots running during working hours.
Cleaning robots are opening the door to robots with greater technological capabilities. One example is Samsung’s Robot Ballie.
It is essentially a ball-shaped assistant that can move anywhere, addressing aspects like energy efficiency, temperature regulation, and video and photo capture. This robot offers great support for office cleaning services due to its high efficiency.
Are AI Cleaning Bots The Future Of Cleaning Service Industry?
How Is Artificial Intelligence Revolutionizing Cleaning Services?
There are still very few references on the impact of automation in cleaning. One of them is a study “Will Robots Take My Job?”, which tells us that cleaners face a high probability of 69% to be replaced by automation. For comparison, that of a cab driver is 89%.
This begs the question; is this the future of cleaning? Will there be no more cleaning done by people? Will everything be automated? It is impossible to know for sure what will happen. Most likely, as artificial intelligence improves, we will have greater access to technologies that can cover the cleaning of any establishment, but this process is decades away. In addition, it will be a long time before artificial intelligence can develop human-like perceptual and motor skills. Because the human brain is encoded in a highly evolved sensory way.
There are also other applications of Artificial Intelligence that help in a more human way to the cleaning sector for stores that aims to improve the welfare of the cleaners at physical and emotional level with tools that have new technologies. Such as AI to individually predict possible future ailments and muscle injuries. When researching AI and its incredible capabilities we realize that the human being is an incredible machine when viewed from any point of view. A cleaner uses 600 muscles in a single movement. Muscles optimize energy that robots will expend with much less efficiency.
Cobotics
A recent and promising technology was “cobotics”. Cobotics is a neologism formed from “collaborative” and “robotics”. A “cobot” is a robot designed to collaborate with humans. A cleaning cobot will be able to accompany cleaning professionals, performing the more repetitive activities such as wiping surfaces, while workers can focus on tasks such as disinfection or deep cleaning to eradicate all viruses and bacteria.
These robotic workers could also take on hazardous tasks. It’s not about replacing human labor, because it’s simply impossible to do in person, but supporting staff with reliable pieces of advanced technology to deliver clean spaces in much less time and effort.
Learn How Is Artificial Intelligence Revolutionizing Cleaning Services
Conclusion
The arrival of robots to make our lives easier is imminent, and in the cleaning sector, it is necessary to have new technological proposals in order to meet the high standards required by hygiene. This raises an important question: How is artificial intelligence revolutionizing cleaning services? The concern that robots will replace human labor is understandable, but let’s be honest—there is still a long way to go. Even so, we believe that human supervision will always be necessary, mainly because artificial intelligence will never be able to match the unique capabilities of human beings.
Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool that will greatly help the commercial sector. It represents the future, and we must be aware of its active potential as it develops at great speed. Robots handle the heavy lifting; they don’t get sick, they don’t protest, they don’t need breaks, and they don’t tire.
At Quick Cleaning, we are eagerly following advancements in these technologies that enable machines to reason and “think” to provide optimal solutions for commercial cleaning services. We hope these technologies remain within control and do not become yet another problem for a solution we’ve invented.
We hope you found this information on how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing janitorial services interesting. We invite you to explore our posts on cleaning information for commercial and residential services.
References:
- Knight, Will (2020) « These Robots Use AI To Learn How To Clean Your House ». Wired.
- September 16, (2019) « The Role Of Robotics And AI In Cleaning ». CleanMiddleEast.
- Srinath, Madhav (2017) « Artificially Intelligent Homes: The Robot Vacuum Cleaner ». Medium.
- June 14, (2022) « Autonomous Cleaning Robots Just Got Smarter ». Gausim.
- Mezil, Ahmed (2023) « Cleaner Homes, Smarter Technology: The Rise Of AI In House Cleaning Services ». Hellamaid.
