Applications are the past, the future is for chat bots

Virtual assistants are becoming an indispensable tool for data processing in modern business.

The era of applications is a thing of the past. The chat bots that replaced them become a new face of artificial intelligence.

A study by Chatbot Market Analysis from Grand View Research showed that the global virtual assistant market was estimated at nearly $ 200 million as far back as 2016 and was expected to grow to about $ 1.23 billion by 2025.

Standard chat-bots are based on scripts and respond using pre-entered data. Assistants of the new model are engaged in “self-education”: with the help of machine learning they constantly improve their ability to understand the speech of the user and give answers that are relevant in form and content. Communication should resemble correspondence with a living person, and replicas of bots – be clear and concise.

As a rule, people do not read messages longer than three lines. Following the traditional “wooden” dialogue routes, AI will not be able to provide the user with the most useful information.

Owners of new businesses see in chat bots a huge potential for the B2B segment. According to the same research, more than half of the end users of chat-bots are large companies, a significant part also belongs to medium-sized businesses. Most companies have long switched to virtual support.

But not a single support: chat bots have become an integral part of the lead generation and are already used as business assistants who are able to cope with a wide range of tasks. From planning, moving and canceling meetings to drawing up contracts, ordering and consulting clients.

The LivePerson survey showed that 48% of consumers do not care, they say with a bot or with a person if their requests are met. 33% of respondents perceive chat bots positively, only 19% of respondents feel displeasure. I think this figure will decrease soon.

Of course, the scenarios for which modern chat bots are working are still far from Tarantino’s dialogues, but to explain why a user needs a product or service, they are perfectly able. For example, to outline the benefits of paid subscription and to argue the appropriateness of its acquisition. Chat bots are also actively used in HR for recruiting potential employees, in particular, monitoring, selection and updating of information about candidates.

However, not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance. Integration of chat bots with payment systems and social networks is a long and time consuming process. But when it is completed, a real revolution will happen: the user will receive an ultimate freedom of action within his personal account, to which an electronic wallet and virtual smart assistant will be attached. It is critically important for business owners not to miss this moment.

During any business process, a huge number of repetitive tasks arise, many of which require integration with different types of systems. Ebola, for example, develops products based on chat bots, both for internal use in AGAMA Communications, and directly for the clients of the holding.

The main tasks of the virtual assistant are the response to the request and its execution. Often, their implementation implies a complex interaction between such systems. Technology, like user needs, is constantly changing, so when developing new-generation chat bots, it is worthwhile to apply an iterative approach, analyzing and adjusting the intermediate results in the process – in the same way as they will function in the finished form in the future.