The future of chatbots: the age of digital beings

What do we dream the future of chatbots to be? For me, the dream is that computers talk naturally to us on any topic. To make life even easier by being the perfect assistant. A trusted companion that knows you well enough to fit around your life like a glove (the bits you choose anyway). One that understands everything you say, remembers what you say and do, and that can support you your needs, be it reminding you about the lights being left on downstairs, an upcoming birthday, maybe coaching or even emotional support.

We’re emotional beings, where feelings matter. It’s in our nature to want to build connections with other beings too. We also have a reflex to create new things. The dream is that computers make us free to do these things, while computers handle the mundane. Leave them to the dull, dirty and dangerous things in life, so that we can feel, create, and connect.

This is in stark contrast to most experiences we have with most technology today. I rarely reflect on my relationship with Microsoft Outlook. I don’t think “I wonder how Gmail is feeling today?” I don’t try to have a conversation with WordPad. “I’m feeling great today, SalesForce, my son can finally ride his bike by himself!”.

We are at the dawn of a new era of digital beings: a new force in our lives that we build relationships with. Some of them come with human-like name like Xiaoice (shYOW-ice), Mitsuku, Zo, Sara and Jessie. Today they are limited, have terrible memory, easily confused, often incoherent, and sometimes all of these at once. But even with that, it doesn’t stop us building a relationship with them. There are 660 million Microsoft Xiaoice users worldwide who use it regularly as a companion. We even love them: Alexa has had over 500,000 marriage proposals.

Xiaoice was brought to life at the Microsoft Xiaoice 6 conference a couple of weeks ago

Baby X 5.0 by Soul Machines: it has a digital nervous system

These various forms of digital beings are rapidly improving: more coherent, more personal, and more capable. With this will come an opportunity to go back to what it means to be truly human, before the industrial revolution trained us to be obedient factory workers.

To elevate us out of the dull, dirty and dangerous.

So we can become better human beings: to feel, create, and connect.

What next

• Plain English guide for how to create a chatbot strategy for your business: CognitionX published The Business of Natural Language Computing: a primer on Chatbots and Voicebots. A free taster is available here.
• Keep up to date on natural language technology with CognitionX’s weekly news briefing