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As technology advances, we are seeing a wave of new developments that are improving the consumer experience. One such technological advancement is artificial intelligence and the chatbot. This articles aims to describe what a chatbot is, and how it can improve your life!
What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is an artificial intelligence program that emulates human to human conversations. If you ask a chatbot a question such as “what is the weather forecast for today?,” for example, the chatbot would use its AI to search for a logical answer. If working properly it would find the current weather forecast for your location.
Chatbots are usually programmed to respond to either text based answers or spoken conversations. Amazon Echo, for example, responds to voice commands, whilst Siri responds to both voice and text. Their artificial intelligence has been designed in such a way that they can understand language (either written or spoken), and then use their logic processors to answer in a humanlike manner. Examples of notable chatbots include IBM Watson, Microsoft Bot, Siri, Google Home Bot and the Nordstrom shopping assistant bot.
In the paragraphs below you will see how chatbots are actually hugely beneficial.
A chatbot can improve the customer service process
A common use of chatbots is as a customer service tool. A chatbot can be programmed to respond to simple customer service queries. Companies employ a live chat option and you enter certain details after which an AI bot will respond. It will look for certain phrases or trigger words to respond with a series of pre-determined answers. This type of customer service tool can reduce customer service costs and also provide an enhanced experience for the user.
Chatbots may also be used in phone call software to help direct users to the correct customer service rep. You may have rang a customer service line and have been asked by a chatbot to answer a series of questions – this is common in the banking industry or other industries that use customer accounts.
For example, a chatbot may ask you to provide your date of birth and account number for security purposes. As technologies improve and AI becomes more complex, we should see an increase in the use of chatbots for this purpose.
A chatbot can be used as a home assistant.
Aside from an interactive customer service tool, chatbots are becoming increasingly common as a home assistant device. We are sure that you have heard of Amazon Echo, Siri, and Google Home Bot? These are all examples of assistants that use chatbot technology. This type of chatbot is mainly housed within a smart speaker or a mobile device. Users can ask the chatbot questions and they will receive a logical response. The Amazon Echo device, for example, can be used to set appointments in your calendar, create music playlists, and find information on the weather and news.
This technology has seen a surge in popularity and is becoming a common fixture within many homes. As with customer service chatbots, as we see this type of technology improve, smart speakers and home assistants should become more advanced and be able to fulfill a wider variety of tasks.
We hope you have found this article informative – chatbots really are a fantastic piece of technology and have done a great deal to provide exposure and publicity for artificial intelligence. The infographic below takes a look at the history of chatbots and provides some interesting facts and figures for your enjoyment:
