Chatbots: Yak, Yak, Yak
May 24, 2018
We want to keep an open mind about smart software and the go-to application designed to terminate the folks with thrilling phone and email customer support jobs.
Just the name, “chatbot” is likely to elicit eyerolls from readers. While we have frequently been told these online oddities will be stepping up into the big leagues of usability, they don’t seem to have really found their niche. That’s what made it all the more surprising when their creators began demanding a little respect in a recent Qrius piece, “Chatbots Deserve More Than Being a Joke, Here’s Why.”
“In the most successful (and useful) applications we were able to schedule meetings and order pizza. …
“[But] We remember the failures. And when Microsoft’s Tay turned into a racist within 24 hours of release, we all laughed. If one of the biggest technology companies in existence couldn’t prevent a chatbot from becoming an anti-semite, what hope was there for the technology writ large?”
The reason we remember the failures and not the successes is because the benefits of one are outweighed by the regret of the other. However, more and more businesses are aiming to change this. Forbes recently reported on how AI was helping make chatbots more useful (go figure!). It’s a compelling point and maybe one that is finally on the verge of becoming relevant. Relevant is not the same as annoying and sometimes very, very dumb.
Patrick Roland, May 25, 2018
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