Chatbot review 1

A chat bot, also known as a chatter bot, is a computer program that stimulates real-time conversation with one or more adults. It uses hearing as well as text to communicate with human beings. The word 'chatterbot' was coined by the creator of the first talking robot, Michael Mauldin. The basis of these programs come from a paper written by Alan Turing and titled 'Computing Machinery and Intelligence.' In this paper, he talks about computer systems that can take the place of humans in a real-time conversation with other human beings. Based on this idea, many individuals and companies started to write programs and these came to be known as chat bots.

Chat bots are used for many practical purposes today. It is used to provide online help to users, act as a virtual assistant, extend personalized service to customers and be a talking companion to anyone who is looking for some company. They have become popular in many fields and have replaced human beings as customer service representatives in many online sites.

Numerous chat bots are existing today to perform different functions in many countries. We will review some of them in this article.

ELIZA

ELIZA is one of the best-known chat bots. It was developed in 1960s and is one of the first examples of artificial intelligence programs. In those days, many people even mistook her to be a human being. This program was developed by Joseph Weizenbaum of MIT University and was used to simulate a Rogerian Psychotherapist. The program used text as the only means of conversation and she could give intelligent answers to questions that were related to the personal life and family of an individual, including the problems and concerns that was faced by an individual.

This program matched string patterns to ask questions and provide comforting answers to the individuals. A typical converstaion can be:
User : I am feeling sick
ELIZA: How long have you been feeling sick
User: For a week now.
ELIZA : Tell me more...
When the above conversation is analyzed, one can see that the string was matched with another question and for anything that ELIZA did not understand, there were generic replies like ”Tell me more..” or ”I do not understand you fully” or ”Elaborate on that.”

Though it was an elementary idea of artificial intelligence, the beauty lies in its simplicity. There are no complicated algorithms involved and it used a simple idea of pattern matching. ELIZA took the world of Internet and AI by storm. She was the first step in showing the world a glimpse of the potential of AI. This led many individuals to work on similar programs and this led to more and more advanced AI programs that could mimic human beings in every way.

ANN

Ann is a virtual assistant who represents Aetna, the US Health-care company. She can help users to find the information they are looking for on the website and can also help them with logging in. She can even help users with the registration process and retrieve lost or forgotten passwords. Users get the service that is similar to talking to a customer service representative over the phone. This program is available round the clock and is interactive.

ISIDORA

Isidora is a chat bot and virtual assistant used by Kraft Foods. She can answer questions regarding the different products and help users find the information they want on the website. She also asks questions and makes users feel that they are talking to a real person and not a chat bot. She also helps the HR team to make product presentations and to convey important messages using the different multimedia options like audio and video. The unique aspect about this program is that it is a video-generated AI program that can interact intelligently with all customers.

The above-mentioned examples give an idea of how AI has been used to provide a better customer experience. From the companies' point of view, it is a lot of savings. They can save on the salary and benefits paid to humdreds of customer service agents to provide round the clock assistance to customers. These programs have replaced many interaction-based jobs around the world.

In short, chat bots are a perfect example of AI and its uses in the real-world. It provides great customer service at little or no maintanence cost to the companies. It is also the first step in the world of AI and its huge potential that can benefit mankind in a profound way in the future.