A chatbot is a computer program designed to mimic the conversation of a human being via text or voice messages. You can command or ask a question to the chatbot, and the chatbot will respond or perform the requested action.
Chatbot mimics human conversations with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques such as Natural Language Processing (NLP), image and, audio and video analysis. One of the most exciting features of a chatbot is that it learns from mistakes (past interactions) and becomes intelligent and smarter over time and known as Smart Bot or AI Bot.
Controversy and Security
As we move forward in 2018, chatbot integrations will continue to gain popularity and usher in a new era of conversational interfaces. We have already seen many of the major tech companies release their own conversational interfaces. This includes the Amazon Echo, Samsung’s Bixby bot, and Apple’s Siri. In each of these, there’s no need to click or interact in any other way than using your voice. As chatbot technology continues developing, these conversations will eventually seamless. So much so that they will be indistinguishable from the conversations that we have with our friends and family. However, it would be foolish to ignore the security issues for bots.
Current bot solutions are not entirely secure and could leave a new door open to attacks from hackers.
The insecurity of bots provides a cyber attacker direct access to an organisations’ network, applications and databases. One of the ways to improve this technology is to develop end-to-end encryption allowing only authorized users to access the information shared. The end-to-end encryption method would reduce the risk of third party attempts from breaking into the system. Chatbots will develop further over time, learning to collect more sensitive and personal information through AI and machine learning capabilities. Therefore, it is crucial for the security to enhance on the platform at the foundation level.
The Benefit of AI: The Always-Working Employee
Machines and software have one massive benefit over human employees: they never have to take a break. If they have a job to do and the electricity with which to run, they could theoretically work 24/7, 365. They don’t go home at the end of the day, there is no sick leave, and they don’t require overtime pay.
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Tips to boost customer engagement using chatbots
- Personal touch to conversations- Chatbots are smart enough to analyze responses based on the customer details and history and thus , can give engage at a personal level and drive conversations.
- Real-time response – Your business can use bots to deliver fast, real-time responses to customers and avoid losing them to competitors.
- One-on-one responses – Customers expect immediate one-on-one responses and you can use a chatbot to meet that goal and enhance their experience with your brand.
Bots are quite advanced and also very effective at engaging customers with personalized messaging throughout their journey.
– End-to-end encryption
Meeting the security and implementation challenges like associated with AI chatbots is crucial.
Also, check out conversational conditional logic forms as an alternative to chatbots.