Why Chatbots are Just a Fad, but AI is Here to Stay
With the wrong product approach, you could suffer a fate similar to that of the dinosaurs.
Chatbots are merely a UI preference 🖌️
Placing all of your product focus on chatbots for the long haul is a recipe for disaster when you think of the purpose they serve. A chatbot is mostly just a visual courier of inputs and outputs between a user and some form of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Mobile apps were the hot fad before chatbots and websites before that. They’re all just visual representations of how we take user input and provide an output in return that is of value to the user.
Mobile apps surpassed websites due to the shift from PCs to mobile devices and the fact that mobile apps provide a more efficient user experience or at least they’re supposed to. Chatbots are currently gaining ground on mobile apps due in large part to the surge in popularity of messaging platforms and the convenience and familiarity that chatbots can provide to the users of these platforms. This is a natural shift in the way we get value from technology that is driven by efficiency and in some cases hype.
AI and data are the core competency in this equation 🧠
If chatbots are just a visual UI fad then what is actually generating all of the value and hype that is causing the chatbot space to become so hot? The answer is easy. It’s the data and the AI, Machine Learning (ML), and Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities that turn the data into real value for the user.
For example, let’s think of an AI-driven platform designed to aid in providing tech support. As more and more users engage with the platform to troubleshoot issues, it collects valuable data regarding the symptoms and resolution of the issues. As this data aggregates over time, it provides more fuel for the AI, ML, and NLP to use to generate true value and automation for the user.
In this scenario, the AI can leverage the collection of issue-related data to present the user with the optimal troubleshooting steps. The chatbot would merely be the transporter of the user’s input in the form of issue symptoms and the AI’s output in the form of an ideal resolution.
To persevere, buy into AI and data, they’re here for the long haul 🚀
Chatbots are the trendy representation of AI capabilities at the moment, but you could argue that voice UI is right there with them and that augmented reality-based AI is bound to surpass both in the future. The visual representation of AI capabilities to users is going to be subject to change for the foreseeable future as we continue to discover superior ways of handling this flow of inputs and outputs.
What’s not about to change for the worse is the potential that AI has on technology and its impact on our everyday lives. The ability to collect mass amounts of user data and make intelligent technology-driven decisions based on macro-analysis of this data is an inherently powerful concept that is driving the modern technological innovations.
So when it comes to devising a vision for your product and the value proposition for your users don’t focus on the visual UI aka the chatbot. Instead, focus on the data you can collect and what you can do with that data via AI, ML, and NLP to provide groundbreaking value and genuinely innovative experiences for your users.
By focusing on the core competency that is driving your value proposition, you’ll be well-positioned to pivot to the latest and greatest UI trend that is sweeping the user landscape. Otherwise, don’t be surprised if your chatbot-driven focus results in your once exciting product becoming as extinct as the dinosaurs.
This story is published in The Startup, Medium’s largest entrepreneurship publication followed by 318,583+ people.
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