Categoria: Conversational AI

The word “chatbot” is mistakenly used as a synonym of Artificial Intelligence, but it isn’t correct. The bot is a conversational interface, which receives questions written in a natural language, and then gives a correct answer. On the other hand, Artificial Intelligence allows chatbots to improve and update their knowledge.

Chatbots are already used in a lot of fields, such as Healthcare and Customer Service. Nevertheless, there are still some doubts about their use and their utility; moreover, people usually give rushed answers, which are not based on proved information. In this way chatbot’s credibility is in danger.

So let’s clarify and talk about 5 common chatbot and AI mistakes

1. Will chatbots replace humans?

First of all, when you think about a chatbot, you probably think about a sort of iper-tech robot, like the ones of a sci-fi film, which wants to take control over humans. But that’s impossible. The bots are programmed to be efficient, fast and always available. But they can’t be perfect. In fact, they need a lot of collaboration with human beings, in order to understand some things about language, that they can’t fully understand.

That’s why chatbots can’t replace human beings and probably never will. Nevertheless, they are a useful resource, that can completely change the paradigm up to a new Human-AI Approach.

Furthermore, according to the World Economic Forum research “The Future of the jobs”, before 2022 there will be about 133 millions of new job places thanks to Artificial Intelligence. Only 75 millions will be eliminated.

It would be a mistake to think that Artificial Intelligence requires only experts and scientists, because it needs also a lot of digital workers. Like every other expanding sector, in fact, Artificial Intelligence has got both a bright and a dark side. To read more about this topic: Betschon S. (2019, October) I precari dei robot.Internazionale, 1329, 64-66.

2. A chatbot is too difficult to understand

Wrong. The bot is based on a language easy to understand, because it’s similar to the way in which human beings communicate. The abbreviation “NLP” (Natural Language Processing) indicates that the bot can understand and answer in the best way possible to a user’s questions, even if they often use abbreviations, formal words or expressions, that seem unusual or that were not planned during the design phase.

A lot of people don’t even realize that they are talking to a chatbot instead of a human being!

We’ve already written something about it in this article.

3. It’s very difficult to implement a chatbot for your business

Wrong, again. To say it better, we have to clarify that the approach, with whom you think and organize this technology, makes the difference. It is very complex, so you need to have the ability to personalize the client’s solution as much as possible. In this way, you make it unique, easy to recognize and perfect for his/her needs.

If you choose the personalized solution offered by Heres, you can have the perfect bot for your enterprise. Heres develops multi-channel and multi-language chatbots, which optimize Business Performances and Customer Experience. We create every interface in collaboration with clients. Together we plan every step of workflow, in order to have a unique and highly personalized product. The advantage of our product is its transversality and adaptability for every kind of business context.

4. Can chatbots think?

It is an intelligent machine, so can it also think? Absolutely not.

Human thought is, neurologically, a series of processes so complex that we can’t replicate them. The structure of the Artificial Intelligence is similar to the brain’s neural web, but it isn’t able to make actions that weren’t previously planned. This extremely elaborate structure is useful in order to verify which conditions activate an action in a specific situation. The bot is based on a written code and it only does something that was previously predetermined, so that it can’t tell jokes if it wasn’t planned to do it.

We are far far away from an AGI, or “Artificial General Intelligence”, that is the possibility of a machine that can think by itself like a human being.

5. One day bots will do whatever they want

Machine Learning has these goals: to improve performances of an algorithm written by humans and to improve or correct something already existing, without writing a single line of code. A chatbot or a Voice Assistant will never take the lead in order to do something that they are not programmed to do. Bots need to be trained to do specific actions by a human being, who has to create and organize a very complex process. For this reason, who works with these technologies may need to check that everything is okay and modify some details in every moment.

The supervision and the responsibility are always human.

Chatbot are amazing allies!

A chatbot isn’t an enemy, on the contrary it can be the perfect solution to improve the management of a Business Communication. Moreover. a chatbot helps answering clients’ questions 24/7 and faster, but it can also help with customers’ relationship and sales. Heres has succeeded in an unexplored field, thank to its innovative solution. Heres offers a total management of the bot from its creation to its maintenance, through the collaboration between bots Developers and Conversation Designers. The chatbot can easily become a true ally for all of us, because of its technology that want to make the everyday life easier.

If you want to know more, contact us!

Recruitment and AI seem far domains, yet can evolve together. Recruitment is indeed one of the fields in which the digital revolution results in an actual paradigm shift. The report Global Recruiting Trends 2018, published by LinkedIn, is about a “new era of recruiting” and states that new technologies and a new vision of a resource’s selection process are the basis of a more and more advanced management structure.

The role of a recruiter is one of the most delicate and crucial ones for a company’s future and he/she has to have decision-making, strategic skills. Good recruiters can see beyond data and CVs and forsee the company’s future. Data are their raw material. If these are an unstructured large quantity, heterogeneous in structure, channel and content, recruiters will have to spend a lot of their time archiving them, thus doing something that is not strictly bond to their job. On the other hand, if data are already well structured, pre-categorized and easily accessible, recruiters’ time and effort will be optimized at the very best.

Delegating this preparatory stage to automation is the primary objective of the digital revolution and leaves to humans what it’s actually among their responsibilities. Recruiters can count on a tool that pre-selects the best candidates on the basis of criteria that they have previously identified. They will thus be able to invest more time and resources in the direct knowledge of these candidates and thus devote their typically human care to building a resource-company relationship.

Moreover, according to the Global Recruiting Trends 2018 report, the means that make this revolution possible are:

• New interview techniques, thought to recreate more informal contexts so that a candidate’s soft skills can emerge.
• Data analysis
• Artificial Intelligence, in order to optimize time in the most difficult recruiting phases and guarantee objectivity.

What’s the role of Chatbots in this revolution?

Chatbots definitely have what it takes to be central tools in this revolution. Our chatbot solution is apt for different levels of the recruitment process and can work hand in hand with human recruiters.

Our chatbot solution can:

• Manage an entire interview with a candidate, handling a dynamic flow that changes after every answer of the candidate
• Bring together all data acquired and put them in a management platform, structured on the basis of recruiters’ needs
• Do an early screening on the basis of the requirements of each job position
• Answer to a candidate’s questions about the company and the job position for which he/she’s sending an application

Test a candidate’s skills

Human recruiters, however, must have a total control of all the stages of the selection process: if the aim is to overcome some past biased standard procedures, a chatbot can’t be a rigid tool, product of a one-time implementation. And that’s why we talk about chatbot-recruiter synergy.

Recruiters:

• Have a total control over the interview with a candidate: among the numerous choices at their disposal, there’s the possibility to ask the candidate to upload files in chat (e.g. CVs, certificates,…) and to record audio files.
• Design dynamical flows tailored to the candidate’s answers.
• Autonomously create, add and modify real-time all job applications, using the bot’s managing platform
• Set specific filters for each job position, that will allow the automatization of the early steps of the screening.
• Can consult and evaluate all applications real-time, using the bot’s managing platform

What’s it like to be interviewed by a chatbot?

The first step of the recruiting process is entirely based, also from a candidate’s point of view, on sharing data and information. Let’s see, then, if also on his/her perspective a chatbot can be an optimizing tool. For a candidate, having his/her first job interview with a chatbot means:

• Certainty of sharing with the recruiter only relevant information, primary objective of candidates at their first interview
• Logistical advantages: a job application can be submitted anywhere, anytime, from any device that has access to internet.
• Guarantee of objectivity and uniformity: an interview can’t endure arbitrary variations linked to the human factor; no cognitive bias risks to corrupt the procedure
• The naturality and linearity of a conversation: the familiarity of a chat as a means of communication and the fact that questions are asked one after the other are designed to help the candidate feel at ease
• Getting in touch with the company: the tone of voice and the way a chatbot interacts can be customized and personalized in every detail, so that it can really represent the company’s personality.

Considering these aspects, we are convinced that a chatbot represents an added value also for the candidate.

Recruitment and AI: the future is today

The new Recruitment era has already begun. Artificial Intelligence is among the first characters of this change. According to the Global Recruiting Trends 2018 report, 76% of HR experts thinks that the contribution of AI on the field will be meaningful. Chatbots are revolutionizing the Candidate Experience offering a unique synthesis between human and digital.

According to Juniper Research, no farther than 2022, chatbots will be able to reduce recruitment costs of 8 billions. Today, the contribution of AI finds its more natural application field in the earlier steps of a selection process and then leaves the ground to a human recruiter, who is more intuitive, empathic and whose evaluations skills are so far irreplaceable. However, we cannot exclude that AI will have a more and more important role in the future, also in more advanced steps of the process.

The road ahead has been mapped. Cooperating with the recruiters of its clients, Heres developed some new product features in order to launch the new domain “Chatbot Recruitment”. This product will continue to be improved with features defined by our clients’ needs and by the new opportunities offered by technology.

We have officially entered the New Era of Recruiting joining a paradigm shift thanks to which an AI actually becomes a useful colleague that helps human recruiters to find the right candidate.

NLP approach or Wizard mode? Free questions or guided conversational paths? What is the best technology to invest in to give chatbots that extra oomph?

While the digital world seems to agree chatbots are products destined to revolutionize the brand-consumer interaction, opinions are still divided on which technology provides the most surprising results in this revolution.

Let’s make things clear about the two most used conversation modes at the moment: we’ll underline the strengths and weaknesses that we spotted here in Heres, based on our own experience.

NLP: free questions between enthusiasm and risks

The NLP approach allows users to ask any question and is focused on understanding what they are writing.

NLP (Natural Language Processing) is the branch of Computational Linguistics that looks for solutions to allow humans and machines interact using natural language.

As it’s easy to imagine, a system based on this technology creates surprise and enthusiasm in the users. At the same time, though, there’s a large risk of misunderstanding what the users wrote in the chat and the answer content, therefore, can only be partially satisfying, since the needs of the writer can be different from what the conversation interface actually understands. Moreover, it may not be clear enough what kind of questions the chatbot is able to answer: the user may ask questions outside the domain and maybe ask nothing at all about the expected topics.

In the following table we summarized everything in a SWOT analysis to highlight strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the NLP approach.

Wizard: guiding the user to a meaningful answer

The wizard mode is an alternative solution that provides for the NLP’s limits, giving the chatbot the task of guiding the user in a conversation path that is planned on a careful domain analysis and a precise forecast of the user’s needs.

As an example, here’s a conversation path where we suggest the most popular topics and after the user clicks on “Cerca punti vendita” (look for shops) we go further, providing the closest shops to the user and then suggesting further search criteria.

If on one side their freedom is limited, on the other the users are still determining the direction of the conversation by clicking on the option that better interprets their needs among the ones suggested by the chatbot. The ability of understanding the customers’ intentions is therefore more precise and the answer provided by the chatbot is much more meaningful. That’s because, according to the needs expressed by the user, it’s possible to gradually deepen the topic, one level after the other.

Heres’ hybrid approach as the optimal solution

At the moment, both approaches have pros and cons and give priority to different necessities. Neither of them, though, stands out compared to the other for its effectiveness or capability of totally satisfying the needs of the chatbot’s final users.

Working with a “user first” perspective, our goal is to offer the best possible UX. This is why in Heres we decided to use a hybrid approach for our chatbots, choosing flexible solutions that can adapt to different domains and clients. In our chatbots, the users start from a conversation path tailored for them, which they can leave in any moment by typing questions according to their interests. Finally, thanks to this approach the user can choose to text or to talk, communicating with the bot through voice messages.

This hybrid solution provides the ability to limit the misunderstandings of the NLP and to play with the Wizard in order to entertain the users and guide them to meaningful, complete content, without limiting their freedom of expression nor the enthusiasm created by natural dialogue with a chatbot.

Here’s a recap to quickly express the pros and cons that have emerged from the direct comparison of the two approaches.

Shopping online is great!

But who should we talk to when there is a problem or just a little confusion? There’s no shopping assistant ready to offer their advice and support. And if something goes wrong there’s nobody you can complain to. There is somebody, actually, but they are invisible and unidentifiable. Phone calls, e-mails, long queues, and background music, just waiting for a service that is often ineffective. Customer service is both a blessing and a curse for any online business: essential for the customers’ satisfaction, but also capable of compromising the customer-business bond forever if not properly managed.

So here are 5 reasons why you should entrust customer service to a virtual assistant:

1- You can automatically manage repetitive operations.

On one side you have the customers, often frustrated by waiting for long periods, and on the other, the operators, forced to answer the usual questions: “Can I return this product?” “When will my order be delivered?” “I haven’t received a refund yet!” “can I change my order?” – questions suitable for automating. How? Entrusting them to a chatbot: an intelligent conversational interface that can be embedded with your eCommerce platform or CRM, capable of answering simple questions but also solving very complex tasks like returning a product, sending an invoice, canceling an order, subscribing to the newsletter and any other operation that can be automated.

2- You have a 24/7 assistant.

A chatbot replies at any hour of the day, any day of the week, without any waiting or delay: the customers are happy because their problems are solved and the Customer Service operators are happy because they can focus on more complex tasks.

3- Higher efficiency, lower expense.

Higher efficiency and simpler procedures, thanks to the reduction of at least 30% of the incoming requests, means saving a noticeable amount of money: according to research done by Business Insider (The Chatbot Explainer, 2016), the potential savings in Customer Service would be more than 23 billion dollars in the United States alone.

4- You can make the customer buy through conversation.

As we said, a bot is a conversational interface, and this means that it doesn’t simply solve problems, but it’s able to improve the customers’ shopping experience by offering them their favourite products or the most tempting promotions, notifying them about the existence of coupons and discounts and alerting them when a product they looked for is available again.

5- Personal shop assistant, lead generation, and marketing automation.

A chatbot can improve a store’s sales and the customer experience in many ways: for example, it can offer products that are similar or complementary to the ones already purchased, memorise the customers’ preferences and offer them a shopping experience that is tailored to their tastes and needs. Or it can follow the incomplete orders and abandoned checkouts, and help the customers thanks to specific triggers related to the problems it has spotted in the different touchpoints through the purchase path: a true shopping support system for the whole customer journey.

There are so many reasons why every online business needs a chatbot that you should ask yourself, “Can I really live without it?“

Ordering a smartphone, checking the weather forecast, booking a medical exam: just a short while ago we would have said “There’s an app for this”. Today, and most of all tomorrow, we will say “There’s a bot for this”.

We are looking at facts: chatbots are conquering the world. But it’s not all thanks to them. Artificial Intelligence is making great strides: Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft are investing millions on Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing. But the real revolution is Conversational. Conversational apps have overtaken social apps: 3 billion users versus 2,5. Whatsapp, WeChat, Messenger, Telegram, Snapchat: everybody loves chatting, talking, asking questions and receiving responses.

Chatting with your friend, partner, cousin, but also with your business online, with your bank or your clinic. You don’t need to phone, send emails or browse the website anymore: you just need to have a conversation. So, welcome to the Conversational Era.

What does Conversational Era mean?

It means that anyone who has a business, a demand, or a market, must equip themselves! In a quick, efficient and innovative way.

How? Apps are handy, fresh and suitable for all. But they can’t deal with huge flows of requests, every day, every hour. This is why the transition to chatbots is easy: conversational interfaces are able to complete orders, manage returned goods, refund customers, suggest products at any price or on sale, offer a dress or a pair of shoes and deal with complex problems. Everything automatically, without operators, any hour, any day.

The data behind ChatBots – what does it say?

A solution, but also an opportunity and, most of all, a change. That is apparently already happening. These are the results of the Oracle report “Can Virtual Experiences Replace Reality?”, for which 800 CMOs, CSOs, senior marketers and senior sales executives in France, Netherlands, South Africa and UK have been interviewed:

78% of the companies expect to start using Virtual Reality in customer experience by 2020, and 37% of them have already implemented this technology at some level; 44% of the companies are going to use chatbots to interact with their customers by 2020, and 36% already use them; 48% of the companies have adopted automation technologies for their sales, marketing and customer service, and another 40% expect to do so by 2020. The moment is now

When the market demands, the market responds. Many start-ups and big brands have already mobilised themselves. Facebook Messenger alone has already developed more than eleven thousand chatbots.

High market volume, impressive predictions.

Companies are facing a crossroads today. Some companies will just wait, others will take advantage and become the first to innovate and experiment. Some may already have made their move: Digital Managers, CIOs and COOs are looking for the best product and may have just scheduled an appointment with one of the dozens of start-ups and tech companies that deal with Artificial Intelligence and chatbots. Making the right decision at the right time is always the key. What seems to be certain is, sooner or later, everybody will arrive at the same point.

Welcome to the Chatbot Era.

Welcome to the Conversational Era.