Chatbots
A chatbot is like a virtual assistant. But instead of being a human, it's a computer program designed to simulate human conversation. You can interact with a chatbot by typing questions or statements, and it responds in a way that mimics human conversation. The word 'chatbot' comes from 'chat,' like chatting with a friend, and 'bot,' which is short for robot.
Imagine entering a store, and an assistant immediately comes to your aid. This assistant is friendly, knowledgeable, and incredibly fast. They can answer your questions, guide you to your needs, and suggest items you might like. They're always there, ready to help, no matter what time. Now, picture that helpful assistant living inside your computer or smartphone, ready to assist you at any time with any digital task you have. That, in essence, is what a chatbot is.
Where you see them
You'll usually see chatbots on websites and mobile apps, where there may be an icon to open the chatbot or a menu listing to chat. Opening a chat doesn't always mean communicating with a chatbot, and you could end up chatting with someone. Let's look at how these work.
Some websites and apps start your chat session with a chatbot and respond with links to help articles. Then if your question isn't answered, they open a chat with a person or give you the option to do so. When I had questions about a flight on American Airlines, their app worked this way.
Other chatbots aren't bots; they start a chat session with a person called "live" chat. You often find live chat used for technical support within an application or website. For example, Charles Schwab offers a telephone and a chat support option. I've used live chat support with GoDaddy and with Spectrum. The website or app will sometimes display the wait time to reach someone by phone and chat, which is usually a faster response time. From my experience, chat vs. phone support quality depends on the organization. I found American Airlines phone support to take longer, but their phone agents were much better informed and able to help. But I've used GoDaddy live chat and got excellent service.
Now that you know the difference between live chat and chatbots, let's look a little closer at chatbots.
What can a chatbot do?
Chatbots can do a lot of things. They can answer questions, guide you through a website, help you buy something online, and even teach you about different topics. They can do all of this because they're designed to understand language in a way that's similar to how humans understand it. This is a field of computer science known as natural language processing.
For example, if you were to tell a chatbot, "I want to buy a red dress, " the chatbot would understand that you're looking for a dress, want it to be red, and are interested in making a purchase. Based on this, the chatbot could show you a selection of red dresses from an online store.
Or, say you're on a museum website and not sure when it opens. You could ask the chatbot, "What time does the museum open tomorrow?" and it would be able to provide you with the correct information. That's because it's been programmed with information about the museum's opening times and can understand your question.
But chatbots aren't just used for shopping or answering questions. They're used in a lot of different ways. For example, some companies use chatbots for customer service. Instead of waiting on hold to speak to a customer service representative, you can ask a chatbot your question and get an immediate response. Some chatbots are even used in healthcare to help schedule appointments or answer basic health questions.
The best part about chatbots is that they're available 24/7. They don't need to sleep or take breaks. This means you can get help whenever you need it, whether in the middle of the day or the middle of the night.
Organizations like chatbots because they offer 24x7 customer service when they work well and can save on live support costs. You may think that a chatbot isn't better than a person, but if you've ever had support from an overseas call center, a chatbot that understands you better can often provide a conversation easier to understand. I have some hearing loss, and for me, understanding a foreign accent is often tricky. Hence, a text chatbot is a preference for me.
How they work
Now, you might be wondering how chatbots work. Well, there's a lot of complex technology behind them, but I'll try to explain it. Chatbots use 'artificial intelligence' - the same technology that powers voice assistants on your phone or recommendations on a streaming service. This allows chatbots to learn and improve over time.
For instance, when a chatbot interacts with people, it can learn from those interactions. Suppose it doesn't understand a question or doesn't know how to respond. In that case, it can use that experience to improve its understanding and do better next time. This is like how a child learns - by making and learning from mistakes.
But chatbots aren't perfect. They can sometimes misunderstand questions or provide incorrect answers. That's because they don't have human understanding or intuition. However, chatbots are constantly improving and becoming more sophisticated as technology advances.
They're a vital part of the future of technology, helping to make our digital interactions more efficient, convenient, and human-like. They're not perfect, and they can sometimes get things wrong, but they're constantly learning and improving, just like we are.
Wrap-up
A chatbot is like a friendly virtual assistant that lives on your computer or phone. It uses artificial intelligence and can help with various tasks, from answering questions and assisting with online shopping to providing customer service. As artificial intelligence improves and becomes more accessible to all types of organizations, you'll see them in more places.
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