What is a Chatbot and why is it important?

A chatbot is a piece of software or a computer program that uses text or voice interactions to replicate human conversation or “chatter.” Users in B2C and B2B scenarios increasingly use chatbot virtual assistants to complete simple tasks.

What is chatbot used for?

A chatbot (short for “chat robot”) is computer software that mimics human conversation using voice or text communication. Organizations employ chatbots and traditional customer service channels like phone, email, and social media to communicate with customers.

Why are chatbot important?

Chatbots can talk with users and answer repeating questions, saving time and money for businesses aiming to enhance sales or service productivity. Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots can converse with users and answer recurring questions.

Many experts predict that chat-based communication methods will become more popular as customers shift away from traditional modes of communication. Chatbot-based virtual assistants are increasingly being used by businesses to undertake simple tasks, freeing up human agents to focus on more important work.

How have chatbot evolved?

Early attempts to construct programs that might temporarily fool a real human into thinking they were interacting with another person included chatbots like ELIZA and PARRY. In the early 1970s, a form of a Turing test was used to evaluate PARRY’s effectiveness; testers could only properly identify a person vs. a chatbot at a level comparable to making random guesses.

Since then, chatbots have gone a long way. Modern chatbots are built using AI technologies such as deep learning, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning (ML) algorithms. These chatbots necessitate a significant amount of data. The longer a user interacts with the bot, the better the bot’s voice recognition becomes at anticipating acceptable responses.

In both the corporate and consumer segments, chatbots are on the rise. As chatbots improve, customers will have fewer issues while dealing with them. In addition, Chatbots assist fill a niche that phone conversations used to serve, thanks to increased technology and a societal shift toward more passive, text-based communication.

Types of chatbot

Because chatbots are such a new business technology, there is some discussion about how many different types of chatbots are and what the industry should label them.

The following are some examples of common chatbots:

Scripted or quick reply chatbots

They function as a hierarchical decision tree as the most basic chatbots. These bots communicate with users by asking pre-programmed questions until the chatbot responds to the user’s query.

A menu-based chatbot is similar to this one in that it requires users to select from a predefined list or menu for the bot to have a better grasp of the customer’s needs.

Keyword recognition-based chatbot

 These chatbots are a little more complicated; they try to listen to what the user types and answer with keywords from previous customer responses. This bot responds appropriately by combining customizable keywords and AI. Unfortunately, these chatbots have trouble with keyword repetition and repetitious questions.

Hybrid chatbots

These chatbots blend characteristics of menu-driven and keyword-driven bots. If keyword recognition fails, users can choose to address their inquiries directly or use the chatbot’s menu to make selections.

Contextual chatbots

These chatbots are more advanced than others and necessitate a data-driven approach. They employ AI and machine learning to recall user dialogues and interactions, which they then grow and improve over time. Instead of depending on keywords, these bots deliver responses and self-improve by analyzing what customers ask and how they ask it.

Voice-enabled chatbots

This form of chatbot is the technology’s future. Users’ spoken language is input by voice-enabled chatbots, which stimulates responses or creative tasks. Text-to-speech and voice recognition APIs can be used to build these chatbots. Amazon Alexa and Apple’s Siri are two examples.