Chatbots: The Forerunners of Technological Revolution

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If we were to talk about recent trends in the world of technology, the exponential increase in the use of messenger apps and the recent developments in artificial intelligence would take the lead. Interestingly, these two technologies have been amalgamated to give rise to a new generation of tools namely chatbots.In the words of millennials, chatbots are the "in" thing that enables brands and consumers alike to communicate and engage with each other in real-time without human intervention. As we speak, technology firms like ourselves and retailers are hard at work, experimenting with the different possibilities of chatbots powered by natural language processing and machine learning to personalize the experience of the customers in terms of shopping experiences, customer services, sales support and all other commercial functions.Text messaging today has become such an inseparable part of our lives. Chat platforms like Facebook messenger, Skype, Slack and Whatsapp et al., have slowly and slyly taken over our lives, demanding our attention every waking hour of the day and well sometimes night.Technology like AI, on the other hand, is demanding higher consistencies and the superiority of APIs. As a result, when the two come together in the form of chatbots, the major touch points include consumer interactions that are extremely personalized, contextual yet significant and most importantly conversational. Thus from the business point of view, retailers have touched touch gold as chatbots continue to unlock the complete potential of B2C interactions.Even though the bot revolution remains is still at inception we can look at where and how the bots have already left their mark:Wall Street Journal Bot - Provides latest breaking news, stock charts, market data and enables users to follow stories/companies and ping them if there is updateZork - Bot for adventure games; hence gaming dimension can be added to educate and sell product/services or simply to drive engagementHealthTap - Provides instant connection to doctors via their networkMyKai - It can answer questions on personal finances like “How much did I pay for groceries?” However, these need integration with own bank accountSkyscanner: It can navigate through your whims and fancies to look for and book you a flight faster than your P.A.Even though it is still at its inception, chatbots promise endless potential. As a revolution in the world of business and technology, the innovation, scope and reach of bots remain endless and with time continues to gain momentum.