As presented in our Business of Disruption and Hyper Visual presentations , companies are starting to explore how they can integrate chatbots into their business – to offer a seamless and timely customer experience.

Chatbots are automated text conversation computer programs which use artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing to talk to customers/users.

Facebook was one of the first companies to integrate this kind of technology into its messaging system, thereby allowing many more companies to use this capability on the Facebook Messenger App.

Besides Facebook, many more companies have followed the trend of using chatbots in their business and have created chatbots which are currently in use. Below are a few examples of chatbots that are already in use:

DoNotPay is a chatbot which has been created to act as a legal counsel for British and American citizens. It gains access to encyclopaedic knowledge of the British and American legal systems and by doing so, helps people to get out of parking tickets.

The DoNotPay chatbot creator, Joshua Browder, is already working on adapting this system to help homeless people in the UK to find homes. His chatbot has helped 160 000 British citizens in getting out of paying for tickets – which proves its usefulness.

Duolingo has created a chatbot to assist users in brushing up their language skills. The chatbot gives users the chance to have text message conversations in French, Spanish or German. It also changes the personas in order to give the user an opportunity to discuss different topics. There is even a help button to assist you in formulating and continuing the conversation.

Healthtap, an online platform that allows people to connect with a network of health professionals who answer their health questions, has launched a Facebook Messenger chatbot which allows customers to get access to reviewed health questions and information from 100 000 health professionals who respond with an answer on the same day. They are hoping to provide health information to 900 million people who have downloaded the Facebook App onto their smartphones.

There are many more companies (Baidu, Flipkart, Uber, American Express, Uber, Sephora etc.) that are using chatbots to assist their clients and this is a trend that will continue to rise. 

By: Tumelo Mojapelo

Image credit: Information Age and The Georgia Straight and Know Techie 

Video credit: Forbes