Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced yesterday at the company’s annual F8 Conference that chatbots were coming soon. The new service will be known as Messenger Platform and the key to its operation will be artificial intelligence as the chatbots become integrated into Messenger.
The idea is to allow developers to create chatbots that will be able to truly communicate in conversational tones with users. The more a user engages the chatbot, the more personal the bot will be able to get with the user. The overall aim of the program is, of course, to move product. Zuckerberg sees it as an opportunity for companies to interact with Facebook’s nearly one billion users and for Facebook’s users to be able to buy products and services without having to do anything but stay in Messenger.
“You probably interact with dozens of businesses everyday,” Zuckerberg said addressing the conference. “But I have never met anyone who likes calling a business and no one wants to install an app for every business or service they want to interact with.”
The chatbots are coming and they are looking to totally disrupt the shopping experience. The question does remain, however, – will anyone bother using them? Zuckerberg has high expectations for chatbots and their ability to operate smoothly within Facebook’s Messenger platform. There is no question that companies will be lined up for a shot at Facebook’s one billion users but will it simply be too much for loyal Facebook users? As smart phones use has proven, users are only willing to download so many apps.
Many see bots as a paradigm shift with regard to how people use the world wide web. They see the personal bots as the front door to the web which could be a major disruption to the industry, indeed.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said, “Bots are the new apps.”
For those who simply love Apple’s Siri, it may not seem all that much of a stretch that many, especially Gen Y and the Mllennials, will embrace the coming chatbot revolution. But, as Microsoft’s recent experiment with Tay proved, the revolution, especially in artificial intelligence, will come more slowly than expected as there will be a kink or two to smooth out.
PHOTO SOURCE: Bloomberg