For what to use a bot?

As we see the ecosystem continue to develop, bots are increasingly showcasing a wide variety of features, from chat to menus to buttons and visual interfaces. Some bots now almost look like full-fledged apps with a variety of feature-rich options. So it begs the question… what exactly is a “bot”?

At the beginning, bots were simply chatbots, a robot you could interact with through chat. If you wrote “ping,” it would respond “pong” as an automated response. Typically, a bot would be useful to retrieve information for you, alert you at the right time or play a game with you. Very basic, very simple.

What are chat bots?

Chat bots are computer programs that mimic conversation with people using artificial intelligence. They can transform the way you interact with the internet from a series of self-initiated tasks to a quasi-conversation.

Without a chat bot, a user might direct his browser to weather.com, then type in their zip code to get the forecast. With a bot, a user can send a chat asking for “Current Conditions” or a “3-Day Forecast” and the bot will reply with your answer.

Could bots replace apps?

Bots let you use natural language to get tasks done. This is one of the reasons many people use Siri or Cortana to check the weather forecast, set a reminder or send an email: it’s just faster. The new generation of bots will be primarily text based. But as bots increase in their capabilities, we’ll start to use apps less. Right now, you probably flip between a few different apps to book a weekend away. It’s the same if you’re search for something you want to buy locally: you might go to a website, search for a product, check stock and then get directions in Google maps to show you how to get there.

Bots will be able to do all this for you: no need to search Google any more, no need to launch the Uber app.

Now that you know more about type of arrangement, what do you think about it?