What Is a Chatbot? Types, Examples and How to Learn to Build Them


Conversational bots are gaining ground in the business world by energizing the relationship with customers. In this article we tell you everything you need to know about these developments, their origins and their evolution. Plus, the best variants available.


What is a chatbot and what is it for?


A chatbot is a computer program based on artificial intelligence and developed to simulate human conversation.


The “dissection” of the term chatbot explains it well: “chat” refers to the talk or conversation, while “bot” to robots or automation.


Based on that, keep the following in mind.


Chatbots are also known as conversational bots.


Just like human conversations, there are chatbots capable of holding conversations in writing and also orally.


Among the former, we can mention as an example the customer service bots that reply in chats. Among the latter, the virtual assistants that come on smartphones.


Later, in this article we'll review some examples of chatbots, anticipating that there are diverse levels of complexity in the developments: from rudimentary systems to super complete models that could make us believe there's a flesh-and-blood person behind the screen.


In any case, with greater or lesser complexity of programming, chatbots foster new modes of interaction between people and technological devices.





How do chatbots work?


Chatbots work with artificial intelligence (hereinafter, AI). Strictly speaking, these programs rely on various techniques typical of that field, like automatic learning or machine learning, and especially through natural language processing, known in English by the acronym NLP.


Chatbots are governed by the logics of AI and are developed with procedures that are common in that domain. Training is key.


How is an AI system trained? Look.


In very summarized terms, AI programs receive large packages of data to then make logical connections. In many cases, the aim is to imitate human behavior and abilities.Chatbots don't escape that spirit.


What types of chatbots exist?


In this section we'll explain that there are various types of chatbots based on their capabilities and/or tasks.


Task-oriented chatbots


They're also known as “declarative.”


They're single-purpose programs, focused on one function.


They generate automated, minimally conversational responses.


Their conversation level is structured.


They're usually used in customer service, for frequently asked questions, for example, to report a business's hours.


In practice, it's relatively easy to tell that it's a “machine.”


Predictive chatbots


They're truly conversational.


Their operation is based on large volumes of data.


These are advanced programs, like virtual assistants.


The level of interaction is higher compared to task-oriented chatbots.


They're capable of understanding and analyzing data and contexts.


In addition, they learn as they're used.


As their name anticipates, they possess predictive intelligence and are capable of analyzing the inputs.


They foster a greater degree of personalization.


They sometimes offer recommendations, since they know the user's preferences.


They can even anticipate people's needs.


Are you interested in seeing examples of the types of chatbots?


Among the task-oriented ones we find the chatbots that many companies use on their websites and in messengers. Usually, they respond with a welcome message and answer basic questions.


Those basic chatbots are the most used today, as developments in the area evolve.


Among the predictive conversational bots we can mention the voice assistants included in smartphones. When it comes to consumer-oriented services, the paradigms are Google Assistant, Apple Siri and Amazon Alexa.





Which are the best chatbots?


In addition to the examples of chatbots mentioned earlier, there are some developments in the area that stand out for their high level of operation, their proven benefits in practice and, in some cases, for their eccentricity.


Let's look at some of the best chatbots in 2022, as this terrain of AI evolves daily.


Cora, the chatbot of the Royal Bank of Scotland


It's a chatbot that operates thanks to one of the best-known systems in the AI world, Watson from the firm IBM.


With the traditional cordial tone of the Scots, Cora can completely resolve about 30% of the queries it receives. That's not a few: each day it assists more than 40,000 customers of the Royal Bank of Scotland.


When Cora runs into questions it can't resolve, it connects the customer with a human service agent.


Replika, a chatbot that was born from a grieving process


The origin of this conversational bot is curious: it was created by a woman who lost her best friend, who died in a road accident, to keep conversing with him. Even if through a replica.


Eugenia Kuyda created this chatbot by inputting into the program conversations she had held with her friend. With that training (yes, with data) the program emulates the personality of the deceased Roman.


Over the years, Replika became a company and the chatbot an application that is recognized among the best of its kind. During the Covid-19 pandemic it helped many people who needed support during social isolation.


Sunny, a real estate chatbot


Implemented by the American real estate company The Keyes Company, Sunny is a chatbot that gained recognition by helping customers find properties. Also to put them up for sale.


Sunny was developed in collaboration with the specialist Roof AI and combines natural-toned conversation with written options (as buttons). This program's creators intentionally sought to have the conversations carry a calm tone and a rhythm similar to that of human conversations.


Juliet, the chatbot of the airline WestJet


The American airline launched this chatbot in 2018, which serves customers through WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Google Assistant.


Juliet is a true success story among chatbots, assisting travelers with quick answers, boarding tips, information about flight status, and more.


How successful is this chatbot? According to what WestJet commented, customer satisfaction increased by almost 25% since Juliet was implemented.


Other examples among the best chatbots are Botti from the German insurance firm WertGarantie; Amelia, from the airline Virgin Galactic, which stands out for its intention to be non-intrusive; and Boti, which is used in the City of Buenos Aires, in Argentina, and which was recognized for its role in the vaccination campaign against Covid-19;


Origin and evolution of chatbots


The origin of chatbots takes us back to the first deployment of intelligent machines, whose foundations were laid by the mathematician and father of computing Alan Turing in the mid-20th century.


The evolution of chatbots is consistent with the advances achieved in the field of AI, which has as paradigms the computers with super intelligence like IBM's Watson and the GPT-3 system, an artificial language model based on deep learning that, in practice, is capable of producing texts.


For the rest, in the history of chatbots one of the first precedents that appears is the so-called “phone tree,” a system that guided customers so they could get advice.


Without a doubt, the constant advances in the field of AI also determine the optimization and improvements in chatbots, which aren't the “exclusive property” of large corporations and are increasingly within reach for everyday users.


The virtual assistants present on smartphones are a clear example of this.


For the rest, there are a series of variables that favor the deployment of chatbots:


The penetration of smartphones: according to Statista, there are currently more than 6.5 billion active smartphones worldwide.


It's expected that by the year 2026 that figure will approach 7.7 billion.


The emblem of messaging apps, WhatsApp, has more than 2 billion users globally.


The reach of the Internet: according to a report by We Are Social, in the world there are about 5 billion people connected to the Web.


Based on this data, it's understood that digitization favors the reach of chatbots, whose influence is on the rise.





What is the importance of the chatbot for a business?


The relevance of chatbots for companies is evident on first examination.


We already emphasized this: in an increasingly digitized world, technological solutions become fundamental.


Chatbots offer businesses the following benefits, regardless of the field.


They foster a better and more dynamic relationship with customers.


They let you redirect resources: the staff that would be assigned to answering basic questions can dedicate their time to other tasks and achieve more productivity.


Chatbots improve the satisfaction level of customers, who receive more dynamic responses.


They're an evident demonstration of a project attuned to new solutions.


In that sense, they demonstrate a business's commitment to technological advances.


They're perfect channels for solving problems and/or frequent questions.


In general terms, they're better received by customers than plain-text question-and-answer guides.


They don't exclude human knowledge: they're based on it.


In addition, when a chatbot finds a limitation in its knowledge, it refers the customer to a human agent.


They favor creativity: as we've seen, there are truly innovative variants and that trend is expected to intensify.


They free humans (in companies) from repetitive tasks.


In summary, chatbots bring customers closer, optimize the use of resources, allowing a better distribution of tasks.


How to learn to program a chatbot?


To program a chatbot there are various tools, of relatively intuitive use.


Creating a chatbot is similar to mobile application development, in this case attaching the system to a messaging service or a specific platform.


In general terms, it's not necessary to be a code expert to create a chatbot. However, it's always advisable to acquire the necessary and in-depth knowledge so that the results are efficient.


Knowledge in data science, artificial intelligence and programming will be useful for the development of conversational bots, whose presence among us shows no signs of retreat.


On the contrary, it's expected that as AI systems evolve, chatbots will be increasingly efficient, productive and also innovative.

If you'd like to keep exploring this topic, you can also read how to learn artificial intelligence from scratch.

Recommended Coderhouse courses

If you want to understand and apply artificial intelligence in your work, Coderhouse has programs for all levels:

• Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Course: to understand how AI models work and start applying them from scratch.

• AI Automation Course: to automate workflows with tools like n8n and Make, without needing to code.

• AI Engineering Course: for developers who want to integrate language models into real applications.