The word automation isn’t limited to robots. Contemporarily, automation is way more than that. The recent advancement in technology is pushing the frontier of what automation can do. From forms that auto-populate with information when you use a web browser to calendars that automatically sync with email clients, automation has a broader spectrum.
Thereby, businesses worldwide are embracing automation to speed up formerly time-consuming processes and close operation gaps that otherwise involve hours of spreadsheet work. And no doubt, businesses using automation have seen higher revenue growth and higher profits than those who don’t.
The chatbot and conversational AI, for that matter, are capable autonomous systems that generate value by contemplating human labor in the workplace. However, both chatbot and conversational AI are not the same. Their features and capabilities are different. So let’s have a look at “chatbot vs. conversational AI.”
Difference between chatbot and conversational AI
Most often, chatbots and conversational AI are used synonymously, but if you go deeper, they are not the same, and their function varies. So let’s have a look at what the differences are
Definition of Chatbot & Conversational AI
Chatbot is a rule-based technology that is designed for handling a very limited number of tasks. These chatbots provide branching questions for users to choose from. You’ll have to craft those questions and install them in the chatbot. That means the chatbot won’t be able to resolve queries that have not been previously defined.
Conversational AI is technologies like chatbots or virtual agents that are capable of understanding human language and interacting with them. They use large volumes of data, natural language processing, and machine learning to understand and interpret human language and respond accordingly. The simple chatbot capable of limited tasks now can go beyond and offer advanced assistance. Conversational AI enhances the chatbot’s ability to understand human language and provide transactional functionality.
Features of bot & Conversational AI
Chatbot
Chatbots are programmed to respond based on a predefined set of rules. They’ll not be able to respond to anything beyond the script.
They understand limited vocabulary or predefined keywords, so they don’t improve or learn themselves over time.
Chatbots can be used for simple tasks like providing basic information and answering FAQs.
Conversational AI
Conversational AI is capable of handling complex conversations and offering personalized solutions by analyzing users’ preferences and behavior over time.
They use machine learning to analyze and evaluate consumers’ past interactions and improve themselves as time goes by.
AI-powered chatbots have a robust mechanism to resolve complex queries and later administer them.
How does it work?
Chatbot
A simple chatbot takes the user’s input and sends it to the chatbot’s backend, where it analyzes the intent. Now it selects a response from pre-existing possible responses and sends it back to the users.
For instance, there might be a list of predefined responses to customer queries like “how to return the product?” “How do cancel the order?”. When users send queries from one of these, the chatbot will recognize the intent and provide a relevant response.
Here, the chatbot uses techniques like keyword matching to make the conversation feel more natural. Yet, they cannot understand human language.
Conversational AI
Conversational AI uses NLP and ML to come up with conversations that sound natural. The NLP transforms the unstructured data that can be read by a computer, analyzed, and generated an appropriate response. While ML algorithms help chatbots analyze the previous interaction, study human behavior, and offer tailored responses.
Use cases of Chatbot & Conversational AI
Chatbot
- Chatbot can be used for customer support to answer common and repetitive queries, such as how to track an order and how to return a product.
- A very common use of chatbots is appointment booking in various industries, like travel and tour, cinemas, hotels, hospitals, etc.
- The chatbot is very useful in offering the information like weather forecasts, movie showtimes, news, and more.
- Businesses can use chatbots to collect contact information from leads and then follow up with relevant interactions.
Conversational AI
- A conversational AI chatbot can be used in healthcare for diagnosing conditions. It asks patients a series of questions and then learns from their answers to get useful insights on potential health issues.
- In the retail business, conversational AI helps brands in lead generation, lead qualification, and lead nurturing throughout the journey. It helps with the best customer shopping experience.
- Conversational AI is useful in the recruitment process. It investigates information and evaluates the CV and recruitment form during the hiring process.
- The finance industry uses conversational AI in fraud detection. If any suspicious activity takes place, the AI automatically recognizes it and indicates fraud.
Future of chatbot and conversational AI
Conversational AI technologies, including chatbots, voice assistants, and virtual agents, have become exceptionally popular in the past few years. And the trend seems to continue for years to come. The conversational AI market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.5% in the 2022-2031 timeframe. Hence, we’ll most probably see the use of chatbots multiplying over the next few years.
That also means chatbots and conversational AI are going to be more sophisticated with time. They will be even more capable of getting human emotions right. Users will get better-personalized solutions, including tailored recommendations, targeted messaging, responses, etc.
Other than that, conversational AI will have an expansion of integrations. They’ll be working alongside human agents. So it would be wrong to say that conversational AI will replace humans in their jobs. But instead, they’ll be a great helping hand and ensure the support that humans need.
Conclusion
Chatbots and conversational AI aren’t going anywhere. They’ve become a mainstream technology in most organizations. So, if you want your business to have a competitive advantage, you must include these technologies in your business.
It will help you engage better with your customer in a more natural and personalized way. You will be able to collect and analyze data from customer interaction and offer valuable insight into customer tastes and preferences, and pain points. This can further help you improve your product and service and enhance the overall customer experience.
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