What Is a Chatbot?

A chatbot is a program that simulates a conversation through a written or spoken channel, as if it were a person. They’re usually used for fairly simple conversations, where the user interacting with it uses certain set phrases that the bot can interpret to follow the flow of the conversation. So a chatbot can range from something very simple, like interpreting basic sentences, to more complex bots that can “understand” the context of the conversation.

How is it used?

There are many use cases for chatbots, but most of the time they’re used to assist end users in different kinds of businesses.

We mainly find them on online shopping sites, where they’re mostly used for customer service; in companies that offer some kind of service, where they can provide information about the services offered; and in messaging services like Facebook Messenger or Telegram, where they can be used for entertainment (like games) or to request information from an API. They can also be found inside private companies, to request information from a department, explain something or even schedule appointments.

How does a chatbot work?

A chatbot works like this: the user types or says a sentence to talk to the bot, and the bot analyzes the user’s input, looking for keywords in the sentence. Once it has analyzed the sentence and found something, if the result is a good one, the bot follows the flow of the conversation, carrying out the actions it was programmed to do. If the result is wrong, the bot should analyze it, report it and learn why the answer was invalid.

To develop a chatbot quickly, teams use platforms provided by different companies, like Google’s Dialogflow or Amazon Lex, although it’s also possible to build a chatbot with whatever tools you have at hand.

While a chatbot could be replaced by a web or mobile app, chatbots can bring a lot of elegance to wherever they’re implemented and, most importantly, simplify the interaction between the user and the application.

And you, did you already know about this tool?

At Pixzelle Studio we can help you implement it or, if you want to go further, we can help you build your specialized app today. Just contact us, tell us about that great idea you have in mind, and together we’ll start working to make it a reality. Get a quote with us!