The French translation of the English word chatbot is “robot conversationnel”
it is an exchange between the user and a robot. The latter communicates with its users without time restrictions, it learns skills and performs tasks to serve its customers. Instant messengers such as Facebook Messenger, Skype, Telegram or Slack now allow all to manage chatbots, which is to say Say robots with artificial intelligence able to speak in natural language with humans. Major French actors already use chatbots to interact with their customers; this is the case of Meetic, Burger King, 20minutes.fr or the SNCF. chatbots are installed on instant messengers like Messenger, Skype, Slack, Telegram…, but why? Because, in recent years, the use of messaging has exploded to the point of exceeding social networking. Nowadays, chatbots contain artificial intelligence that can better meet the needs of users.
Eliza, the first chatbot appeared In 1966, created by Joseph Weizenbaum. Eliza played the role of a psychotherapist, rephrasing patients’ affections with questions. Eliza was so convincing that the patients felt like they were talking to a real person. They told him about their problems and considered him a friend.
Chatbots have had successes and failures because talking with a human is not easy. Tay, the chatbot created by Microsoft in March 2016, was chatting with users on Twitter. He fed on user responses to form his sentences. The problem is that the chatbot’s comments became racist as and when conversations took place. Microsoft has therefore suspended Tay’s Twitter account very quickly.
the usefulness of the chatbot
Customer service
Customers ask a lot of questions to brands, and often the same ones. You may mention the answers on a FAQ page, the requests are repetitive.
Generate transactions
The chatbot can turn into a seller because unlike a simple advertisement, the conversation-established with the chatbot is personalized. It can indeed direct you towards a product according to your tastes, your preferences, your age, etc. Thus, a conversation can result in a successful sale, without flooding the user with advertisements.
Share content
Finally, an instant messenger is very close to a social network. The user discusses and shares content with his friends. Thus, the chatbot can push the user to share and spread content across his network.
Chatbots are becoming more intelligent and add value to brands. Users will naturally talk with a chatbot, both on a popular instant messenger and on a site. Indeed, the web interfaces will be redesigned to include conversational means. The user experience will be improved. therefore, the notion of “conversion” is part of the user’s mind.