Chatbots are powerful Conversational AI tools that can enhance customer (or employee) experiences, automate tasks and optimize operations. They are sometimes referred to as AI agents, virtual or digital assistants. If powered by great conversation design, they can be a truly transformative force.
At their core, chatbots are conversational computer ‘agents’ designed to simulate conversation with humans. Using Conversational AI technology, they engage in natural and interactive dialogues with people. This can be through chat widgets on websites, through social media comments or other chat enabled interfaces. Sometimes the term chatbot is also to describe voice bots and other types of AI assistants like generative AI bots or agents.
Chatbots can perform a wide range of tasks, helping businesses with consistency, automation, operating costs and much more.
While technology plays a big role in chatbot development, human expertise remains an essential element. Conversation designers, AI trainers and human reviewers are crucial in ensuring that chatbots communicate with empathy and authenticity. Ensuring they align with customer needs, brand guidelines, legal requirements and the goals of the business.
There are three main types of chatbot:
These chatbots follow predefined rules and patterns to respond to user queries. The chatbot answers are designed and written by conversation designers. As are the different steps and turns in the conversation. Declarative chatbots excel in handling structured interactions and providing consistent information. They may struggle with handling ambiguous queries or unpredictable user inputs.
Leveraging the power of LLM’s, generative chatbots process context and generate responses dynamically. They can generate text, translate languages and answer questions in an open-ended manner. They are well-suited for complex interactions and unpredictable scenarios. They may offer more flexibility but could be challenging to control for specific use cases. To increase their reliability (and truthfulness) the generation of answers is often grounded in existing knowledgebases.
Hybrid chatbots are defined as combining elements of both declarative and generative chatbots. To answer customer questions they use a combination of pre-designed answers and flows and generative answers. There are many different ways to combine the strengths of declarative and generative chatbots, and hybrid chatbots are very much the way of the future.
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Handling frequently asked questions and providing instant support to customers, improving response times, and ensuring 24/7 availability.
Assisting customers in placing orders, tracking shipments, and managing order-related inquiries, providing a convenient and efficient shopping experience.
Providing information about products or services, and guiding users through troubleshooting processes.
Assisting new employees during the onboarding process by providing information about company policies, procedures, and answering common HR-related queries.
Initiating conversations with website visitors, collecting information, and qualifying leads based on predefined criteria before passing them on to sales teams.
Assisting new employees during the onboarding process by providing information about company policies, procedures, and answering common HR-related queries.
Allowing users to schedule appointments, book reservations, or set reminders without human intervention, streamlining the booking process.
Conducting surveys and collecting feedback from customers or employees, allowing businesses to gather valuable insights and improve their products or services.
Facilitating communication by offering language translation services, enabling businesses to interact with a diverse customer base.
Assisting employees with IT-related issues, troubleshooting common problems, and providing guidance on software usage within the organization.
Delivering personalized content, recommendations, and interactive experiences based on user preferences and behavior.
Providing basic health information, appointment scheduling with healthcare professionals, and medication reminders to patients.
Assisting users with account inquiries, transaction history, and basic financial planning, improving customer engagement in the financial sector.
Helping users plan trips, book flights, hotels, or rental cars, and providing travel-related information and recommendations.
Assisting with job applications, answering HR-related queries, and providing information about company policies for both applicants and employees.
Creating interactive gaming experiences, delivering content recommendations, and engaging users in entertaining conversations.
CDI provides comprehensive training, live support, coaching, and consultancy services to empower businesses in developing Conversational AI solutions that adhere to best practices. Our experienced team guides you through every step of the process, ensuring your implementation is efficient, effective, and aligned with industry standards.
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