Here we discuss How does chatbot artificial intelligence work? These are undoubtedly one of the most exciting times for the technological space. With the internet dominating the business world, it has become imperative for every business to have a significant digital and online presence to survive. If you are somewhat familiar with the latest online and internet browsing tools and technologies, you will be aware chatbot artificial intelligence is a term you will have often come across. You might also be aware that there was some apprehension about their use in the initial times. But now that this apprehension of their usability has faded away.
Now it has become a vital necessity for almost every business, irrespective of whether they are big or small.
Chatbot role vital now for any business
Going by the current trends, it is more than evident that their relevance is here to stay, and they will occupy a more significant role in the times to come. Thus, if you are a business owner who wants to drive your business ahead in the online space, chatbots are something you need to be familiar with and use extensively to market your business in the future. If you check, you will find that many companies are already using these chatbots to automate their customer support and lead generation.
A recent survey on Facebook reveals that over 50 % of consumers prefer to buy from a company they contact over chat.
Therefore, it is a vital tool that can indeed make a revolutionary change to your existing business. However, before we go into how that can happen, let us first begin by understanding what chatbot artificial intelligence are. Then, let us assess why they have become crucial for almost every business in the current web scenario.
Understanding what are chatbots
When you visit some web pages, you might have often come across a pop-up box, which immediately pops up and asks how it can help you. It is an intelligent chatbot that might ask specific contextual questions and tries to lead you accordingly based on the choices you make presented by it. The immediate response and round-the-clock availability to users make the brand grow all the time.
How can they be defined?
Simply put, a chatbot is a computer program capable of discussing with a human when they visit a web page.
If you check, they typically can be found on different online platforms like FB Messenger, Whatsapp, or even the web pages of websites.
Generally, you will note chatbots have an application layer and a database. They also have APIs and even the Conversational User Interface (CUI).
They usually stimulate a natural human conversation. The users can communicate with the chatbot artificial intelligence, through the chat interface or over a voice. In addition, the program usually has a set of pre-set questions and answers which guides the users to the next step.
When it comes to chatbots, there may be different types of them.
Three chatbot artificial intelligence types
If you explore, you will find there are primarily three types of chatbots. These are as follows:
1. Rule-Based Chatbots
Out of all the chatbot types, rule-based chatbots are the simplest type. Users here interact with these chatbots using some buttons and options that are pre-defined. Here the users make the close-ended selections provided by the chatbots. They are the simplest and also the slowest type of chatbots. Given the latest advancements in the current web scenario, they are not the best options you have.
2. Machine Learning Chatbots
In recent times you will well know machine learning has emerged in a big way. The same technology also is now being used for developing chatbots too. These types of chatbot artificial intelligence are more advanced compared to the one mentioned earlier. These Machine Learning chatbots or popularly known as ML chatbots, are the ones that learn from the inputs and requests provided by the users.
These chatbots are, in some ways, intellectually independent and are trained to identify and react to some pre-selected keywords and phrases. Based on the training they are given, they trigger responses. In some ways, these can also be considered conversational chatbots. They learn and get trained from the experience through which they undergo.
3. AI- Chatbots
In the technological space, you will realize Artificial Intelligence, popularly known as AI, is a buzzword. It is because they are the most advanced form of chatbots which are now widely used everywhere.
You will find AI Chatbots can do many things. For example, they are capable of understanding free language. They, at the same time, have a predefined flow. The chatbot AI ensures they can solve the user’s problems. But these problems are generally repetitive. It enables a resolution of such common problems usually faced by the users.
You will also be pleasantly surprised that the AI chatbots can recollect the context of the past conversation and the user preferences too.
What you also be surprised by with the capabilities of these highly advanced chatbots is they can jump from a particular conversation with the user to another whenever needed. At the same time, they can handle random requests made by the users.
These AI chatbots, along with the ML chatbots, use a National Processing Language (NLP) to understand user interactions.
Now that we know some of the basics of chatbots let us try and understand how they work.
The NLP is explained in simple terms.
As already explained earlier, the chatbot artificial intelligence uses a language called the NLP to interact with the users. So let us see what this is about.
The main aim of the NLP is to enable the chatbots or the computer to interact with the human user. Users here can interact with the computer by asking some questions.
NLP in chatbots- How does it work?
The NLP to be understood better can be further classified into two things. These include the National Language Understanding NLU and the Natural Language Generation, also known as NLG.
NLU for the AI Chatbot
If you check, you will find that the NLU for the chatbot is the ability of the AI chatbot to understand the human user.
NLG for the AI Chatbot -what is it?
On the other hand, the NLG or the Natural Language Generator converts the structured data of the AI Chatbot into text to enable the user to understand it in their language.
The steps involved
If you check how this process of the NLP works, you will find that when the user asks the chatbot any questions, it immediately breaks up into the intent, the entity, and the context.
The intent is the user’s action or the information he is seeking.
The entity, on the other hand, is what compliments the intent. It can be the location, date, color, size, or flavor.
Context – The NLU algorithms usually can not assess the context of the dialogue. It is because it usually does not have any conversation history.
For being able to differentiate the phases during a chat conversation, it, therefore, becomes necessary that its state is stored. An example can be like ordering pizza. Here the AI chatbot immediately knows that the user intends to order pizza. Once this is done, they can immediately identify the next step. For example, the AI chatbot can bring up something like Dominos, its supplier.
Through this context, the user’s intent of the AI chatbot can be better understood, and thus it can take the user to the next step of the ordering process and so on.
Main steps involved in the process
If you check how the NLP performs at large, you need to note that it does so through some fundamental steps, which are as follows:
Sentimental Analysis
As a user, you will know that the user’s sentiment analysis is vital in the entire interaction with the chatbot. In line with this, the first step is for the algorithm to assess and get an idea of the sentiment of the user’s query.
Tokenization
Another vital step in the entire NLP process or the user’s interaction with the AI chatbot is known as tokenization.
It involves the step of splitting the sentence of the user into different parts. These are also technically called tokens. These tokens are found to be symbolic linguistically and helpful to the overall application.
Named Entity Recognition
When the user feeds in information, the AI Chatbot usually looks for and tries to identify a specific word or a set of words. These can also be the name of a brand or product.
Part of speech Tagging
Under this step, the algorithm, computer program, or application determines words as nouns or verbs, adjectives, and so on. It, in turn, helps it take the user to the next step.
Normalization
The next step is to process the input text into the usual spelling mistakes, which can also be typological errors. This step gives the chatbot a more human-like effect on the users.
Dependency Parsing
In this step, the AI Chatbot looks for subjects and objects along with grammatical stuff like verbs, nouns, and even common phrases used in our daily interactions. It is another step in NLP processing.
The AI Chat is connected to a database.
If you check the functioning of the chatbots, you will find they are connected to a database. The database stores information and is used to provide the chatbot artificial intelligence with all the previous records. The information thus available in the database enables the AI chatbot to give the most relevant response to the chatbot user.
Once the user is fed in, the chatbot matches the same in the database.
The NLP helps the chatbot convert the information in human language into a combination of patterns and text. First, they are mapped with the information available on the database with which the chatbot artificial intelligence is connected. Once they are mapped, the most appropriate response is given to the chatbot user.
Thus, if you explore, you will find that the entire process is very complicated. But since it is highly efficient, everything happens quickly and efficiently. Everything put together is what has completely changed the business world. Many of these AI Chatbots are used by businesses of all sizes and types across different industries.
The wide scale use of the chatbots is not without reasons, of course.
The use of chatbots is being used to support different business functions. Let us look at how this is happening.
Various use of AI chatbot artificial intelligence across different business functions
The use of chatbots is comprehensive and is used extensively for supporting different business objectives.
Generating sale leads
The first and foremost use of chatbots is generating sales leads. Of course, you will know only the potential customers will visit the prospective web pages and web applications. But the interaction of the potential users with the chatbots only enables them to generate more favorable responses to ensure the conversions go through.
Enable sale teams to deal effectively with the leads generated
Another way businesses can use chatbots is by analyzing the responses given by the users in their interaction with the AI chatbots. They can analyze whether the responses reveal genuine interest and whether it makes sense to pursue them. By doing this, the resources can be more optimal for the businesses.
Can provide outstanding support for customer care
It is seen that many of the queries of customers are common. They are repetitive as a result. In such instances, the AI chatbots can be the perfect support for the customer care department. The chatbot system can handle the bulk of such common queries, and thus the customer care department can focus on more complex problems. In the process, such complex problems can be dealt with and resolved much faster.
Because of this reason, the chatbot system is widely used for supporting the customer care department in various businesses.
Making the ordering systems more efficient
You will be aware that many food ordering applications have recently become very popular. The chatbot technology is used extensively to manage many of these popular food ordering applications. AI chatbots are intelligent and can handle order management systems, making them highly efficient. It can simplify the ordering process as a result.
It can provide the users with a personalized experience of the ordering application and thus enhance the user experience. Ultimately this helps in the growth of the business of the ordering application.
The many benefits that chatbot artificial intelligence (AI) bring to the business
It is not without reasons that chatbots are widely used. The following are the main reasons for their wide-scale popularity
Better Profitability
There are many financial benefits associated with chatbots. First, they help generate leads that get converted into business, thus bringing about better profitability.
Help to automate routine functions and help to make them more efficient.
As already mentioned, AI chatbots, or any chatbot, are usually used and employed to carry out routine functions. As a result, the staff employed can be made accessible and put to more productive use. Thus, the entire process becomes more efficient, and another significant benefit is why businesses use chatbots extensively. All of it is because the regular business processes get automated with chatbots.
Help to provide a personalized experience to the users
As a business owner, we know you will realize the importance of the user experience in the current highly competitive business environment.
The good news with the latest chatbots is they provide highly advanced solutions to the users. In the process, the user experience gets enhanced many times. Thus, it leads to better business and is used by most companies now to tap into this all-important benefit of chatbots.
Chatbots are an excellent opportunity for businesses.
You will know that many people now use Messenger to chat with their close friends, relatives, and people they know. Recent studies show the popularity of messengers has surpassed that of many applications. They are especially popular with the more tech-savvy young generation.
Many big brands are using it extensively to engage a higher number of their customers and potential customers on social media platforms. Some studies show there are over 300000 chatbots on Facebook itself.
Conclusion: How does chatbot artificial intelligence work?
To sum up, we can say that there is no doubt that technologies are making rapid progress in the current times. Out of the many advancements that have been made, AI Chatbots have come up in a big way. These AI Chatbots are now used by big brands and small businesses extensively and for many benefits they offer. These range from generating leads, better user engagement to automation of the routine business processes, thereby making them more efficient. Ultimately, they bring about better user experience and profitability.
Everything put together we can indeed have in many ways revolutionized the way business is carried out currently.
Businesses of all sizes and types widely use them because of the many benefits they offer. We hope we have provided you with the correct understanding of chatbots, and you will engage it to benefit from them.