Are Chatbots Really The Future?
Did you know that the first chatbot was created in the 1960s? Programs that simulate human conversation have been around for a long time and aren’t technically new!
Chatbots are trending now and are used in diverse fields ranging from education to entertainment. Let us delve a little into the history of chatbots.
The rise of chatbots:
Chatbots have been around for more than half a century now but have gained real popularity recently due to developments in both conversational artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Let’s take a look at how chatbots have evolved through time. Here is a brief timeline:
The downfall of the chatbot revolution:
Do you have an unpleasant experience with a chatbot? Most of us do!
Being asked to repeat information or being stuck in the loop of “Sorry, I did not understand that” can be frustrating. Why do you think this keeps happening?
A few years back, the popularity of chatbots skyrocketed and many believed that it was the next big thing, the end of apps and the beginning of the chatbot era. Despite all the initial hype, bots lost momentum and were disappointing!
Applications and chatbots are never to be compared. Both serve different purposes. This might be the main reason that led to their downfall. A hybrid method, using a chatbot as an extension of an application can provide an enriched customer experience.
Another reason might be that to become digital and trendy, most companies sacrifice proper conversation design. Understanding the value a chatbot can provide and develop conversations that aim for delightful customer experiences along with setting up limitations can lead to the creation of a successful chatbot. Moreover, once it is created, that is not the end of it. It is a cyclic process of learning user behaviour and interactions based on analytics and improving the quality of the chatbot continuously.
The Evolution:
There are many misconceptions about chatbots. Often consumers expect a bot to respond accurately to all open-ended questions. However, this might not be the case always!
Chatbots may be created with a specific goal in mind, to solve a particular problem and provide a quick response to a user. They are not here to replace humans; they are here to automate the repetitive mundane tasks and thereby save cost and time and humans can divert their attention to more strategic tasks at hand.
They can deliver tailored interactive experiences, for each user, thereby improving user engagement and satisfaction. They can seamlessly communicate with multiple users simultaneously and provide instant responses to queries.
As AI and ML technologies evolve, so will chatbot technology. Massive advancements in speech and computer vision will revolutionize the way we see chatbots. Coupled with sophisticated layers of speaker recognition, sentiment analysis, etc, they will be able to understand the customer and provide better responses.
We still have a long way to go, to create powerful, personalized, and high-quality conversational experiences and discover creative ways to interact with customers. But that should not stop us from developing chatbots that can add immense value if proper design guidelines are followed with constant monitoring of user interactions.
About the Author
Geethu Suresh is currently a Microsoft .Net Consultant working for Version 1. Be sure to follow Geethu for more blogs on Innovation.
