About Chatbot
How do chatbots work?
Driven by AI, automated rules, natural-language processing (NLP), and machine learning (ML), chatbots process data to deliver responses to requests of all kinds.
There are two main types of chatbots.
- Task-oriented (declarative) chatbots are single-purpose programs that focus on performing one function. Using rules, NLP, and very little ML, they generate automated but conversational responses to user inquiries. Interactions with these chatbots are highly specific and structured and are most applicable to support and service functions—think robust, interactive FAQs. Task-oriented chatbots can handle common questions, such as queries about hours of business or simple transactions that don’t involve a variety of variables. Though they do use NLP so end users can experience them in a conversational way, their capabilities are fairly basic. These are currently the most commonly used chatbots.
- Data-driven and predictive (conversational) chatbots are often referred to as virtual assistants or digital assistants, and they are much more sophisticated, interactive, and personalized than task-oriented chatbots. These chatbots are contextually aware and leverage natural-language understanding (NLU), NLP, and ML to learn as they go. They apply predictive intelligence and analytics to enable personalization based on user profiles and past user behavior. Digital assistants can learn a user’s preferences over time, provide recommendations, and even anticipate needs. In addition to monitoring data and intent, they can initiate conversations. Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa are examples of consumer-oriented, data-driven, predictive chatbots.
Advanced digital assistants are also able to connect several single-purpose chatbots under one umbrella, pull disparate information from each of them, and then combine this information to perform a task while still maintaining context—so the chatbot doesn’t become “confused.”
Why were chatbots created?
Digitization is transforming society into a “mobile-first” population. As messaging applications grow in popularity, chatbots are increasingly playing an important role in this mobility-driven transformation. Intelligent conversational chatbots are often interfaces for mobile applications and are changing the way businesses and customers interact.
Chatbots allow businesses to connect with customers in a personal way without the expense of human representatives. For example, many of the questions or issues customers have are common and easily answered. That’s why companies create FAQs and troubleshooting guides. Chatbots provide a personal alternative to a written FAQ or guide and can even triage questions, including handing off a customer issue to a live person if the issue becomes too complex for the chatbot to resolve. Chatbots have become popular as a time and money saver for businesses and an added convenience for customers.
How chatbots have evolved
The origin of the chatbot arguably lies with Alan Turing’s 1950s vision of intelligent machines. Artificial intelligence, the foundation for chatbots, has progressed since that time to include superintelligent supercomputers such as IBM Watson.
The original chatbot was the phone tree, which led phone-in customers on an often cumbersome and frustrating path of selecting one option after another to wind their way through an automated customer service model. Enhancements in technology and the growing sophistication of AI, ML, and NLP evolved this model into pop-up, live, onscreen chats. And the evolutionary journey has continued.
With today’s digital assistants, businesses can scale AI to provide much more convenient and effective interactions between companies and customers—directly from customers’ digital devices.
Common chatbot uses
Chatbots are frequently used to improve the IT service management experience, which delves towards self-service and automating processes offered to internal staff. With an intelligent chatbot, common tasks such as password updates, system status, outage alerts, and knowledge management can be readily automated and made available 24/7, while broadening access to commonly used voice and text based conversational interfaces.
On the business side, chatbots are most commonly used in customer contact centers to manage incoming communications and direct customers to the appropriate resource. They’re also frequently used for internal purposes, such as onboarding new employees and helping all employees with routine activities including vacation scheduling, training, ordering computers and business supplies, and other self-service activities that don’t require human intervention.
On the consumer side, chatbots are performing a variety of customer services, ranging from ordering event tickets to booking and checking into hotels to comparing products and services. Chatbots are also commonly used to perform routine customer activities within the banking, retail, and food and beverage sectors. In addition, many public sector functions are enabled by chatbots, such as submitting requests for city services, handling utility-related inquiries, and resolving billing issues.