Using the term “Chatbot” will lead users to believe the converstation will be more social and less business focused as virtual assistant describes more of a topic focused and purpose driven application. With the advent of Siri and other virtual assistant apps especially on mobile devices, the term virtual assistant becomes more associated with search and information retrieval.

It’s really the botmaster’s responsibility to educate the user of what to expect from their application. Not withstanding, a social aspect should always be a part of the mix since it creates a more relaxed and enjoyable experience for the user. The bottom line for a virtual assistant is to provide assistance and information as where a Chatbot can also deliver information but also has a much broader scope of topics and conversational ability.

Laura Patterson - May 2, 2012:

Using the term “Chatbot” will lead users to believe the conversation will be more social and less business focused as virtual assistant describes more of a topic focused and purpose driven application. With the advent of Siri and other virtual assistant apps especially on mobile devices, the term virtual assistant becomes more associated with search and information retrieval.

I agree, however, from the TV commercials I’ve seen, even Siri can reply with humor.  Clearly, the dividing line (currently) exists between business and entertainment.

Laura Patterson - May 2, 2012:

It’s really the botmaster’s responsibility to educate the user of what to expect from their application. Not withstanding, a social aspect should always be a part of the mix since it creates a more relaxed and enjoyable experience for the user. The bottom line for a virtual assistant is to provide assistance and information as where a Chatbot can also deliver information but also has a much broader scope of topics and conversational ability.

I don’t see why a virtual assistant can’t also be something of a chatbot.  If people have the choice of visiting two banks… one where you’re greeted in a friendly manner, asked about your family, and the teller responds to your comments about the weather… and another, where the person you’re dealing with offers cold factual answers, and ignores any comments or questions outside of the banking transaction or other banking services, which bank do you think most would prefer?  One frequent complaint about businesses is that they’ve lost the “personal touch.”

As for blaming the botmaster for failing to educate the user on what to expect, I think at least part of the blame should go to the user.  When I visit a business web site, or one so cluttered that I can’t navigate the site, or when I make a phone call to a business that immediately greets me with an automated phone tree menu, my expectations drop considerably.

But, I’m curious as to how a botmaster might go about dissuading a visitor to a virtual assistant from expecting too much.  Might there be a disclaimer stating something like, “Don’t expect a conversation, I’m not a chatbot.”

If a visitor to a website needs assistance and uses a virtual Agent for help, I think the last thing they want from the agent is a weather report or a joke. I agree that the converstation does not have to be robotic and all business, but on the other hand if a customer is pissed off or frustrated I don’t think a smart ass remark would be very welcome either. A chatbot or virtual agent does not have a mind of their own (not yet anyway), so it is the responsibility of the botmaster to lead the user in the right direction and to not deceive them into believing that the virtual agent is smarter than or more capable of it’s true abilities. This is the real difference between chatbots and virtual agents. Their technology may be bery similar but their purpose is totally different.

I also wanted to comment about the public’s perception of “rigged” virtual assistants. Let’s get real here… ANY chatbot or virtual assistant is scripted to a certain extent. Show me one that is not outlined with topics and or query responses. Even IBM’s Watson relies on knowledge baKses and logic “scripting” to answer questions. We are talking “artifical intelligence” not biological thinking!

One that always struck me as being rigged is this demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tqt2TurCnI&feature=player_embedded
Especially, as there is seemingly no way to converse with the bot yourself.

Laura Patterson - May 3, 2012:

If a visitor to a website needs assistance and uses a virtual Agent for help, I think the last thing they want from the agent is a weather report or a joke.

That’s going farther than my suggestion.

First, I wouldn’t expect that the public is turning to virtual agents during serious, life and death situations.  However, they might want information on purchasing a new lawnmower or something like insurance, so I don’t think they’d flip out if someplace in the exchange the bot asked for their name, or how’s the weather, or if the bot responded with a human-like remark… “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute and it’ll change,” or “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it.”  I didn’t recommend that every virtual assistant turn into a stand-up comedian, or that they deliver full weather reports upon being asked about lawnmowers.

Bot:  Hello, tell your name so that I can help you.
Human:  Fred.
Bot:  Nice to meet you, Fred.  How can I help you?
Human:  I’d like some prices on lawnmowers.
Bot:  I can help you with that if you click the following link.  It’s a beautiful day for mowing the lawn.
Human: No, it’s not.
Bot:  In that case, you have my permission to take the day off.

Laura Patterson - May 3, 2012:

I agree that the conversation does not have to be robotic and all business, but on the other hand if a customer is pissed off or frustrated I don’t think a smart ass remark would be very welcome either.

I didn’t address that situation, or use those words, but if a customer is irate about something, they want to talk with a person, not a chatbot, or an automated phone menu.  Still, a chatbot might be prepared for a guest who expresses themself using words and phrases associated with anger or profanity.  I believe that subtle humor could be employed to defuse the situation, and I wouldn’t advise a business to have their human emulator utilize “smart-ass” remarks even under the best of circumstances.

Human:  The order I placed was wrong and I’m really angry.
Bot, Don’t shoot me, Fred, I’m only the piano player.  Click on this link and you can text with a live person online right now.

Laura Patterson - May 3, 2012:

A chatbot or virtual agent does not have a mind of their own (not yet anyway), so it is the responsibility of the botmaster to lead the user in the right direction and to not deceive them into believing that the virtual agent is smarter than or more capable of it’s true abilities. This is the real difference between chatbots and virtual agents. Their technology may be bery similar but their purpose is totally different.

I agree to a certain point, but might a virtual agent inspire confidence in the visitor?  Certainly, there are people who would rather walk into a store and do what they came for, and then leave without having to engage any employees… they might want to point to an item, hand the cashier their money, grunt, and then walk out.  But, there might be an equal number who wouldn’t mind exchanging pleasantries with the cashier, and at some future time, tell others how well they were treated, and become a repeat customer.  How many times have you felt mistreated, or misunderstood, and said to yourself, “I’m never going back there again”?

A number of years ago I worked as a Customer Service and Tech Support agent for at the time was the largest ISP in the country. Back in those days people were connecting at 1400bps using Win 3.1 and winsock to authenticate. You can only imagine the sort of calls we would get with many frustrated and ready to cancel their service. The most important skill a CSR should have is the ability to listen to the customer’s complaint, gain their confidence and reach a fast and accurate solution to their problem. Putting the customer at ease is really the first step especially when troubleshooting a connection issue. Many times we had to completely reconfigure the customer’s network settings in order to resolve the problem. Listening to the tone used and the way the customer describes their problem gives the CSR the cues needed to respond to the customer most effectively.

A Virtual Agent should be no different in its ability to parse the users input looking for keywords not only to link to the proper topic but to also form the reply in such a way as to gain confidence, add humor when needed or to simply resolve the problem quickly and efficiently. In designing Slide Agent I give to botmaster complete freedom of linking keywords to topics and context of query to better define the most relevant response. In addition, I have the ability for the agent to recognize keywords and phrases that would identify the user ‘s attitude such as the use of profanity. If the botmaster wishes, conversational topics can be defined that would personalize the user experience. Virtual Agents need not be cold and all business. They can respond in a warm a friendly manner. Again, it’s all in how the VA’s conversational tree is defined.

So what we are talking about here is not necessarily technology but the psychology of the user’s experience.