Definition
In our definition a chatbot is
An artificial living entity designed to have conversations with real human beings. That can be a text conversation via computers, a spoken conversation or even a non-verbal conversation.
Chatbots can be found on screens, in the virtual world, but also in the real world, projected (with holographic projection, for example) or as physically talking and responding puppets, toys and robots. They currently appear most often on the web and in Instant Messenger programs like Windows Live Messenger (previously MSN Messenger) where a chatbot is in the friend list of the user.
Chatbots often have a human names like Tim, Alice or Kylie. They sometimes look like a human being, sometimes like an avatar, an animal, alien or have an image that doesn’t look like a creature at all.
Industry terminology
The worldwide chatbot community doesn’t yet have consensus on what terminology to use to address chatbots. Synonyms are:
- automated chat agent
- automated chat sales associate
- automated sales agent
- artificial intelligence chatbot
- artificial conversational entity
- bot
- brand agent
- brand buddy
- brand butler
- branded agent
- chat bot
- chatterbot
- chatterbox
- conversational agent
- e-rep
- embodied conversational agent (ECA)
- interactive agent
- interactive virtual agent (IVA)
- home robo
- virtual agent
- virtual assistant
- virtual chat agent
- virtual customer service agent
- virtual sales rep
- virtual smart agent
- virtual call center agent
- virtual call centre agent
- virtual customer agent
- virtual digital assistant VDA
- virtual employee
- virtual human
Additionally lots of local variations on the usage of the terms exist. We strongly believe that the chatbot community should collaborate worldwide to standardize terminology, as that will professionalize the market. Chatbots.org is willing to facilitate this discussion. We’ll use the term ‘chatbot’ on this website.
Chatbot developers are by definition companies or individuals responsible for the user experience, including avatars, voice and textual responses. Chatbot developers typically co-operate with many other specialists, for example in the areas of design, voice technology, knowledge management, call center routing and holographic projection. We’ll refer to these industries as affiliates on this website.
Turing-Test
Sometimes it’s hard to discover if a chatting partner is a real person or a chatbot. A well-known test that can be done is the so-called Turing Test. This test determines how well a chatbot is capable of appearing like a real person. All bots are now (and in the years to come will still be) easily uncovered, but over the next decades they will definite get smarter and finally we’ll recognize human being by their giving us silly answers as opposed to the much smarter chatbots.
Future
In the long run (think in terms of 30 years) chatbots will be so smart that we can have conversations with them (in real speech). Then they will give (extremely) intelligent answers: even more intelligent than we could expect from normal people. We’ll also be unable to distinguish their appearance, including their movements, gestures and intonation from ordinary human beings. But this will go step by step. Today, we’re just happy with their current capabilities.
Chatbots as customer service representatives
Below you’ll find a movie of The Selfservice Company explaining how a chatbot can help organizations. The Selfservice Company is a chatbot developer who develops brand agents, artificial characters that represent a brand and answers visitors’ enquiries in name of the brand.
Grey out:
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