5 Biggest Misconceptions About AI-Powered Chatbots
By far, the greatest danger of artificial intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it - Eliezer Yudkowsky, AI theorist and author
Did you know that the first-ever chatbot was developed at the MIT AI Laboratory by Joseph Weizenbaum in the 1960s called Eliza? It was designed to mimic human conversation and used a script that simulated a psychotherapist.
A conversation with chatbot Eliza
The earliest efforts to incorporate AI into chatbots came in 1992 with Dr. Sbaitso. It was also programmed to converse as a psychologist.
Dr. Sbaitso's introductory message
However, it was not until recently that chatbots have become more mainstream. Today, as we trudge through the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), constant advancements are being made in the field of AI. Especially during this past decade have these advancements have taken the functionality of chatbots to a whole new level. And yet, despite its enhancements, it still has more ground to gain.
5 Things About Chatbots You Probably Got Wrong
As AI-powered chatbots continue to expand, many misconceptions have made headway as well. Let's take a look at five common misconceptions about AI-powered chatbots:
Misconception 1: All Chatbots Are The Same
One of the most common misconceptions about chatbots is that people think they are all the same or are AI-driven. Indeed, there's a big difference between chatbots from their approach and purpose to development methods.
Let's look at the three main chatbot development methods:
Linguistic Chatbots (Rule-Based): Rule-Based chatbots use a series of defined rules, which work through conversations like a flowchart. With rule-based chatbots, the potential user questions and possible answers are defined in advance. They don't answer any questions outside of the prescribed rules and don't learn through interactions. These chatbots are suitable for products where the chatbot helps users with FAQ.
AI-based Chatbots: These chatbots use machine learning (ML) to comprehend the intent and the context of a question before formulating a response, as well as natural language processing (NLP) to respond to customers' questions. It also heavily depends on the training: the more you train your AI chatbot, the better it learns and engages with the users.
Conversational AI (Hybrid Chatbot): Hybrid chatbots are the best of both worlds: they use both machine learning models and linguistic methods. They can understand conversations using natural language understanding (NLU), and they don't need frequent training.
Misconception 2: Only Big Companies Need Chatbots
This is another misconception that doesn't hold true. Using AI-powered chatbots is highly beneficial for your business or company: whether it's large or small. Pizza Hut, Sephora, Spotify are great examples of big brands that use AI-driven chatbots; however, it doesn't mean that smaller companies and brands should avoid using them. In a survey of CEOs from small and medium-sized businesses, 29.5% of them spoke in favor of AI technology and its benefits to their businesses. This shows that small and medium-sized businesses still don't completely comprehend the benefits that AI-powered chatbots can bring their businesses.
The main benefits of using chatbots to grow your small business are:
Improved customer service
Increased customer engagement
Automated 24/7 support
Reduced cost
Bolstered staff productivity
It's wise to integrate the chatbot if you're a small business to keep up with your competition. It not only helps your small business grow but also enhances your customers' satisfaction and employees' productivity as well!
Misconception 3: Chatbots Are Able to Answer Every Question
Another common misconception about chatbots is that they can understand and answer every type of question.
It's true that most chatbots are trained for multiple question variations with predefined answers. However, they are not trained for every kind of question. Some people think that if they ask ridiculous questions, they'll still receive adequate answers from a bot, but that's not always possible. It depends on the chatbot, its functionality, its purpose, and how well it is trained.
Before asking a chatbot a question, remember; the bot cannot answer all questions. It answers only within the framework of its training and what is already present in its knowledge base. Still, AI technologies, like NLP and ML, are enhancing the functionalities of chatbots, as the latter gets better at understanding the user's intent and providing personalized and related responses.
Misconception 4: Chatbots Are Only for Customer Service Industries
When people hear about chatbots, they immediately associate them with customer service. This is not necessarily true. If chatbots were only used in the customer service industry, then they would only serve to answer FAQ.
Today, chatbots present countless possibilities that can be used for different use-cases. They are not used for specific fields only; rather, they serve numerous industries. These industries can utilize chatbots for different purposes and for different actions.
Without a doubt, chatbots integrated into customer service platforms are a huge key to a business's success, but when it comes to the different uses of AI-powered chatbots, their potential is endless.
From increasing customer loyalty to automating orders and improving sales; chatbots are spreading their roots in almost every industry today. There are plenty of effective chatbot use-cases for various sectors, such as:
Integration of Chatbots in Healthcare: Could you imagine that someday a chatbot could make a diagnosis for your illness or disease? Nowadays, chatbots, along with various ML algorithms, fully engage with a user to provide assistance to patients. The healthcare industry is beginning to harness AI-powered chatbots to facilitate the process of patient care. Moreover, chatbots have become so well-trained that the help and diagnosis they provide to patients sounds as if a human gave it to them. A well-known example of medical industry chatbots is Medwhat.
Integration of Chatbots in News: Nowadays, there are opportunities to use chatbots to find the news you want to read. Chatbots can ease the news reading process by offering news based on your needs and preferences. A great example is CNN which has developed an AI-powered chatbot that is integrated into platforms like Facebook Messenger and Kik.
Misconception 5: People Are Uncomfortable Talking to Chatbots
Of course, it depends on the person. However, many people engage with chatbots on a daily basis on their smartphones without realizing it.
For example, did you know that Facebook Messenger has a total of 300,000 chatbots? And it converses with 1.3 billion people monthly.
A lot of people find it better to interact with a chatbot on a regular basis. Modern bots are trained to mimic human dialogue and provide an ultimate personalized experience. According to Invesp, 40% of consumers don't care whether a chatbot or a human agent assists them as long as they are getting the proper help.
One of the main reasons people can rely on chatbots is the power of knowledge base and NLP that chatbots have. These make conversations sound natural and more personalized. At the end of the day, a customer wants to be appreciated and have its needs and demands heard. Chatbots can provide the valuable assistance they require!
The Takeaway
One of the biggest obstacles companies and businesses face is that they avoid using new technologies and innovations like chatbots because they have a vague understanding of their capabilities and believe in different misconceptions like the ones we mentioned above.
Chatbots can be extremely valuable for different industries. By overcoming these misconceptions and doubts regarding the capabilities of chatbots, industries can invest in them and flourish. We can expect new innovations in the field of AI, and hopefully, these misconceptions surrounding them will start to dissipate as people begin to grasp and appreciate their value.