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AI Barbie

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Written by Peter Li-Chang Kuo ( Chinese ) Today, everyone talks about “ Artificial Intelligence ” (AI). What few people realize is that there was once a real opportunity of Mattel — over 30 years ago — for an “ AI Barbie ” to emerge. Fig 1: Barbie Doll in 1984 In the early 1980s, Mattel internally questioned whether Barbie could still be saved. The company attempted to pivot into remote-controlled toys in Hong Kong , but the effort failed. By chance, I was hired as a “ Specialist ” — not to save Barbie, but to confirm the trend of decline. However, on my very first day at “ MLT ” (Mattel Ltd. Taiwan), I redesigned a critical flaw: replacing the original three-piece leg armature — time-consuming, labor-intensive, and highly inhumane to assemble — with a simplified " Two-piece Leg Armature " design. This change eliminated cumbersome manual assembly, reduced defect rates, and I also freely provided a " Sliding-based Processing Machine " originally used for ...

When Peter Meets William

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Written by Peter Li-Chang Kuo ( Chinese ) In my 2005 book “ Open A Way for the Next Generation ” (Kuo, Li-Chang, 2005: p.191), I recorded the importance of creating opportunities for future generations. Many endeavors cannot be completed within a single generation; therefore, one generation must pave the way for the next. When the right moment arrives, that prepared path can turn adversity into opportunity and ultimately create a model for others to follow. In 1979, when I went to the United States to start a business, I heard a middle-aged lawyer express concern about the future of the next generation. In particular, he noted that the rise and fall of Seattle depended almost entirely on a single aerospace company. He believed a new industry combining “ Law + Software ” should be created, and he aspired to become a “ Big Engine ” to open a path for the next generation. Ten years later, this Mr. William H. Gates Sr. indeed became the father of the world’s richest man. Fig 1:...