We've created various technologies to help us do things and solve problems. With the internet and information in practically everyone's hands, chatbots are emerging faster than ever.
This is an undeniable fact that they have become a technology that become increasingly common, knowing that most major messaging platforms have used them.
Chatbot, also known as chatterbot, talkbot or just bot, are computer programs that can conduct conversation via either auditory or textual methods. Chatbots are increasingly become common as they can be designed to convince a human in a way by simulating how ordinary humans would behave in a conversation.
They are typically used in dialogue systems, like customer service or information acquisition.
While chatbots can open new possibilities in interactions and are able to create a whole new era for startups, many people aren't at all convinced. While many of them are become increasingly aware of chatbots' existence, but they argue that those program can really replace humans.
A rising number of people are also concerned about the impact of chatbots in the market.
While computer programs are proven to be pretty bad in realizing meaningful emotion behind conversations, they can be indeed persuasive to some degrees.
Something that no one can doubt is that chatbots have been widely used as part of instant messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, WeChat, and Kik for entertaining purposes as well as B2C marketing and customer service.
Since chatbots have been introduced in major messaging platforms, they slowly laid a strong foundation that changed how brands conduct their businesses on their respective platforms.
Using chatbots can also be a way to reduce costs. Because computers are good in automation, chatbots can be used to do repetitive tasks that were previously daunting for humans.
While chatbots can certainly do certain jobs better than humans, faster and also cheaper with a higher rate of conversion, they still can't replace human interactions in specific areas.
For example, humans can ask and answer complex and questions that span differently across many areas and cultures.
So for a basic shopping experience, chatbots can be a great substitute for humans. They can guide users through a specific process that will take them through certain products and present them with numbered options, a process which may or may not result in a sale.
While they can be a great assistant to human customer assistant, no AI can completely replace humans. Chatbots can never be a permanent replacement for humans even though new improved technologies are introduced.
So unlike their versions popular in science-fiction movies that brought them to reality, chatbots are still far from perfect. Chatbots may take some jobs from humans, and they may become permanent replacements for humans, but such is the future.
For us humans, we should not feel threatened. Instead of attempting to fight technologies, those in the industry should learn to embrace computers deeper into their job. Companies should also see how AI could integrate and advance their current business models.