Shelby Klingerman, Content Curator |
RECONNECT 18 featured several sessions about emerging technologies. Some popular topics included automation, machine learning and robotics. One conversation was sparked around the subject of chatbots. Based on the sessions at the conference, here are some key takeaways about chatbots:
- Chatbots work best when portrayed as mere chatbots, not trying to disguise them as humans.
- Chatbots represent an opportunity for productivity gains by freeing employees from mundane tasks. i.e., less time spent calling help desks to ask simple questions.
- Proper configuration allows you to control how the chatbot flows in conversations and reacts to questions.
Transparency is the Key
Transparency is key to getting people to trust the bot enough to work with it. There’s no point in pretending that the bot is anything other than a bot. No amount of configuration can make them human, so it’s best to be honest up front with users.
Chatbot Capabilities
Chatbots can speak over one-hundred languages and can understand spelling mistakes, typos and shorthand text. They can also perform tasks like pulling up to-do lists or running reports and emailing them directly to you. The bots can even handle requests like assigning employees a new supervisor, promoting someone or terminating an employee.
Configuring Chatbots
Another perk about chatbots is that the dialogue flow between a user and a chatbot is entirely configurable, so companies can control how a bot answers and flows. Administrators can also help a bot learn by looking at where the knowledge gaps occur and providing the bot with additional information to correct the deficiencies in the future.
If there is a gap in the communication or a user wants more out of an answer, chatbots can provide more details, suggest additional questions to ask or send links to helpful articles about the topic. There’s a mass amount of information at your fingertips because these chatbots are fast, accessible and mobile.
The Big Picture
The idea behind chatbots is to reduce the time people spend digging through websites looking for basic information and the number of calls to help desks or Human Resources to ask mundane questions. This allows all departments to focus on more pressing issues or projects instead of devoting their time to asking and answering basic questions that a bot could quickly handle, which helps your company as a whole in the long run.
Chatbots, AI, Machine Learning and other emerging technologies are set to transform almost every industry. Would you like to learn more about emerging technologies and how they are transforming businesses? Check out our Emerging Technologies Webinar Series!