Chatbot's- The basics
Chatbots are pieces of code able to converse with a human interactively with some reference. This is basically an application of a subset of Artificial Intelligence, aimed at having intelligent conversations with humans.
Such Chatbots have already been implemented by Google in their chatting platform, Allo (as revealed in Google I/O 2016). Other companies such as Facebook, Microsoft and LinkedIN have already stated their interests in such a software (By Facebooks F8, Microsoft's Tay,LinkedIN: probable future tech).
Chatbot's predecessors were the old game, Dungeons and dragons, which used certain words to derive the answers to their questions according to previous queries. Chatbots use the same methodology, but instead of referencing the answers by the questions, they shall refer to a predetermined set of queries, which if possible shall answer accordingly. In case the answer is not found, an operator on hand, shall help out the customer, all the while the bot is actually learning from the human interaction and is further inserting that data into its answer set.
By using such software's, these companies are able to decrease their workforce by a considerable margin, however current statistics would suggest only up to forty percent of data flowing through such companies can be automated, since most users still prefer having humans at the end of the line. However envisioning a future wherein whole of such feedback is done via such software's is still plausible.
The benefits of such chatbot's would be their robustness and portability between multiple chatting methods, as well as their scalability. Modern call centers are able to operate at an optimal efficiency when a certain workload is present. However chatbot's would have no such problems and would be able to scale without any problems. Moreover consistent information delivery is also possible with chatbot's, which is not possible with their human counterparts, due to human error. Low maintenance and speed are added benefits.
The problems faced by chatbot's would be the need for increased infrastructure, and layoff of professionals in large numbers. Another would be to ensure that the information being referred to is correct. A curious case of Microsoft was discovered wherein the chatbot they devised for twitter became racist, amongst other terms used for it. The problem in this case was that the users being connected to the chatbot themselves used racist and foul language, which caused the chatbot to 'learn' such itself. Another bad use of such bots is their application on online chat sites wherein they use their not so inconsiderable talents to urge the users to part with their credit card information and such essential financial details.
The future of such chatbot's are shrouded in mystery, for they may be used for furthering business or may be used to further personal selfish agendas. Chatbots have become a precursor for full AI's and achieving this milestone shall be highlighted in the history books, for its infamy or its fame, that much remains to be seen.