The wind of AI has also reached the printer industry

Author | Wang Xiaojuan

Editor | Huang Yu

Since the emergence of AI, various industries are being empowered by AI. Now, this trend is also reaching the printer industry.

On September 9, JD.com and Epson jointly launched the world's first AI learning printer. This product focuses on core subjects such as Chinese and mathematics, and introduces three innovative features for the first time: AI essay correction, AI mental arithmetic correction, and AI typo correction.

For many parents, tutoring homework has long been a test of patience, becoming a daily routine filled with chaos in many households. In recent years, some parents have started to embrace AI tools to assist with checking homework and planning tasks.

However, many parents have found that AI tools have reduced the time spent on tutoring homework to some extent. But because smartphones and tablets are convenient for accessing entertainment apps, using AI features on these devices for homework assistance inadvertently increases children's screen time, which is something parents are generally resistant to.

A parenting blogger on Xiaohongshu, Doujiang Mama, shared that she previously used AI to generate math problems and check essays. She also tried using a regular printer to print content generated by AI tools, but encountered issues such as garbled text and unclear highlights.

The AI printer launched by Epson this time has introduced three new "AI learning assistant" features on the WeChat mini-program: AI essay correction, AI mental arithmetic correction, and AI typo correction.

These three new features have been specially optimized in collaboration with AI vendors such as Doubao Enterprise Edition and Hanwang Tiandi, allowing users to output clearly formatted and professionally contented correction results through a simple three-step process of "taking a photo," "importing for cloud printing," and "one-click generating & printing correction results."

From the printed results, the AI essay correction feature allows users to select correction models, writing styles, and grade levels when uploading essays via photo. It not only covers basic text corrections but also provides in-depth guidance on emotional encouragement, sentence optimization, writing idea expansion, and a collection of good phrases and sentences.

Additionally, the AI mental arithmetic correction can quickly complete and mark wrong answers, attaching correct reference answers at the end of the test paper for parents to quickly verify or use flexibly; the AI typo correction can quickly and accurately identify typos, missing words, punctuation issues, and can also correct errors based on context, helping children solidify their language foundation.

In terms of presentation, all output content is designed with children's reading habits in mind regarding font, size, and color, greatly enhancing the experience and efficiency of paper-based learning.

The benefit of this is that children can read directly on paper, immersing themselves in learning without being distracted by other content on electronic devices.

On the same day, Epson also shared its "Epson Home Printing AI Strategy." In the future, Epson will continue to enrich the AI features for printing scenarios, launching new applications for AI English essay correction, AI English word practice, and other "AI learning assistant" modules. This means that AI has made the functions of printers no longer fixed, but continuously upgradable In the future, Epson plans to deploy "AI Learning Printer" experience zones in 3,000 Epson stores nationwide, as well as in over 3,000 JD Home and JD MALL offline stores.

With the rapid development of AI technology, JD.com launched the "AI Renewal Acceleration Plan" at the beginning of 2024, and has collaborated with multiple brands to accelerate the widespread application and market popularization of AI in more terminal devices. AI laptops, AI smartphones, AI tablets, AI learning machines, AR glasses, AI robots... JD.com is working with brands to bring AI into reality, comprehensively enhancing the efficiency of office work and learning.

This also brings new opportunities for the hardware industry. Wu Shuangxi, Vice President of JD Group and head of the 3C Digital Business Group, stated, "In the past two years, the growth of AI-related hardware products has been very strong, with AI laptops and tablets seeing a year-on-year increase of 150%, and AI smartphone sales quadrupling, while other AI hardware also enjoys very high popularity."

In addition to jointly launching AI printers, JD.com and Epson also held a signing ceremony for the commercial printer business "Enterprise Success Plan." The two parties will focus on upgrading the rights and service capabilities for government and enterprise clients, leveraging JD's connection to over 8 million corporate clients, and seeking new growth points through exclusive policy support, in-depth customer operations, innovative procurement models for small and medium-sized enterprises, and collaborative marketing resources across the entire chain.

The new round of hardware iteration around AI may bring new opportunities for hardware companies and retail platforms like JD.com that have a strong presence in the 3C sector.

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