Talking to Software: Policeware Vendors Ignored This Next Big Thing
June 9, 2018
On the flight from somewhere in Europe to Kentucky, I reflected on the demonstrations, presentations, and sales pitches to which I was exposed at a large international law enforcement and intelligence conference.
I realized that none of the presenters or enthusiastic marketers tried to tell me about chatbots. The term refers to a basket of technologies that allow a user to ignore tapping or keyboarding to get actionable information.
When the flight landed, I noted a link in my feed stream to “Chatbots Were the Next Big Thing: What Happened?” My personal experience from four days of talking to humans and listening to explainers was that chatbots were marginalized, maybe left in the office file cabinet.
The write up states:
…Who would monopolize the field, not whether chatbots would take off in the first place:
“Will a single platform emerge to dominate the chatbot and personal assistant ecosystem?”
One year on, we have an answer to that question.
No.
Because there isn’t even an ecosystem for a platform to dominate.
That seems clear.
The write up points out that chatbots were supposed to marginalize applications. One of the more interesting items of information in the article is a collection of chatbots stuck for an answer.
Net net: Like quantum computing, smart software has potential. But technologies with potential have been just around the corner for many years.
Marketing, confident assertions, and bold predictions are one thing. Delivering high value results remains a different task.
Stephen E Arnold, June 9, 2018
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