Category: Chat

Since the upsurge of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the necessity of chatbots has increased. This is because people had to work from home. This meant that any business using human dialogue systems took a hit.

A chatbot is a software application deployed to a website or an application. A chatbot can engage in a conversation with a human and understand the person’s needs. After understanding a person’s needs, the chatbot guides the person to achieve the desired outcome.

Benefits of Chatbots to Businesses

The use of chatbots in businesses has several advantages such as:

• Immediate response to customer concerns.
• Chatbots act as the foundation for a business’ conversational marketing tactics.
• They offer automation methods for routine business processes.
• It help the business to gain customer insights.
• Chatbots improve a business’ sales.

AI Chatbots are designed per the Turing test rules. Their integral purpose is to mimic the way a person would behave as a conversational partner. Chatbots need vigorous tuning and testing to ensure that they mimic a human conversation well.

The integration of chatbots in Shopify and other similar e-commerce sites has proven to improve revenue by 15% to 35%. With this in mind, one has to ensure that their chatbot is efficient. The efficiency and reliability of chatbots are dependent on the framework used.

The chatbot development framework is the underlying structure of a chatbot. This is where the definition of a chatbot’s behaviour happens.

Chatbot Framework

Google Dialogflow Framework

This framework allows developers to create intelligent chatbots that understand various language dynamics because it is supported by Google’s Cloud Natural Language.

Their chatbots can be integrated with Google Assistant, Cortana, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, etc. The framework offers two packages. These are the standard edition and a paid version.

Pricing of Google Dialogflow.

The standard edition is free but you can always swap to a paid version if you have a regular query workload. The charges are $0.002 per text request, but the prices vary and can rise to $0.075 per minute for all processed phone calls.

Pros of Google Dialogflow

• The framework supports more than 20 languages worldwide.
• The framework also offers Software Development Kits (SDKs) for more than 14 platforms.

Cons of Google Dialogflow

Facebook Wit.AI

Wit.ai is an open-source chatbot framework with advanced natural language processing or NLP capabilities. Wit.ai is owned by Facebook and is a popular choice for NLP-based Facebook Messenger bots.

Pricing of Facebook Wit.ai

Pros of Facebook Wit.ai

• Wit.ai makes it easy for developers to create applications and devices that can talk or text with
• Since wit.ai is an open-source framework (and open application), they also benefit from a large developer community. . Developers can see what other people have done, learn from it, and use it for their own robots.
• Wit.ai features include a well-designed developer user interface and a dialog flow tree that is easy to edit visually.

Cons of Facebook Wit.ai

IBM Watson Assistant Framework

IBM Watson’s framework uses modern technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence. The framework uses Watson AI, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Understanding to learn from previous client conversations.

The framework allows businesses to keep data that flows through it. This is a unique feature since other proprietary vendors of chatbot frameworks collect the information gathered by their chatbots. IBM’s privacy offer isolates the information gathered by their assistants in a private cloud. This is done to secure proprietary insights acquired from the user interaction.

Pros of IBM Watson Assistant

• IBM’s stringent security policies promote data privacy. Data privacy has become a huge concern in this era of technological advances, and IBM is spearheading the change.
• It allows seamless phone integration. When the chatbot gets a request that it cannot solve, it connects the client to a telephony platform to get further help.

Cons of IBM Watson Assistant

• The framework is complex. It encompasses many features and capabilities. This means that for a user to understand how to develop their chatbot based on it, they need to have developer expertise to unlock its full potential.
• It does not allow the end-user to access chat history.

Pricing of IBM Watson Assistant

The framework offers three product plans, that is Lite, Plus, and Enterprise. The Lite plan is free but lacks a Voice Add-On channel and supports 1000 monthly active users only.

The Plus plan supports all channels and allows more than 1000 monthly active users. The extra number of users is charged at $14 per 100 users. The plan starts at $140 per month.

The Enterprise plan offers enterprise-scale performance for data governance and support. It allows more than 50,000 monthly active users. The pricing of the plan depends on the features that the client will choose. The prices, therefore, vary based on the needs of the client.

Amazon Lex Framework

Amazon Lex Framework is a chatbot-building framework offered by Amazon Web Services(AWS). The framework uses the artificial intelligence suite offered by Amazon (Amazon AI).

The framework incorporates numerous technologies offered by Amazon to aid in its functionality. It uses Amazon Cognito for the user authentication process. It then uses Automatic Speech Recognition to convert audio into text.

For converting text to human speech, the framework uses Amazon Polly services. The interconnection of these various technologies improves the functionality of chatbots developed using this framework.

Pros of Amazon Lex Framework

• It has automatic scaling capabilities thereby alleviating the need for the developer to manage the infrastructure and hardware to scale the bot.
• It supports various platforms and deployment to them is through a one-click process.

Cons of Amazon Lex Framework

• It is not multilingual. The framework supports English only.
• The process of data preparation using the framework is complicated.

Pricing of Amazon Lex Framework

Amazon Web Services charges this framework based on the number of requests, unlike other frameworks which have a stipulated monthly rate.

The framework has a free package that supports 10,000 message requests and 5,000 speech requests per month for a year.

The second package offered for Amazon Lex Framework is the Request and response package. This package charges $0.004 per speech request and $0.00075 per text request.

The framework also supports streaming conversation packages whereby all the user inputs across various turns as one API call. In this package, the bot continuously listens for any user input then the time usage is calculated into 15-second speech intervals. The framework charges $0.0065 per speech interval and $0.0020 per text request.

RASA Framework

Rasa is used to develop industrial-grade contextual assistants and chatbots. The developer defines the set of policies that will govern the bot’s functioning. The policies are then saved in a .yml file.

The framework has two integral components, that is Dialogue Management and Natural Language Understanding (NLU). NLU handles the process of classification and entity extraction. It also handles the retrieving of responses.

The Dialogue Management unit decides the next cause of action based on the series of previous messages with the user.

Pros of RASA Framework.

• The framework develops highly customizable chatbots. The developer can employ numerous pipelines to process dialogues with the users.
• The chatbots can be run as simple HTTPS servers.

Cons of RASA Framework.

• Chatbots developed by the framework are resource-intensive on the server-side.
• It does not provide direct integrations with messaging platforms directly out of the box.

Pricing of RASA Framework.

The RASA framework offers custom pricing to its users based on the features that they opt to have. This improves budget efficiency since the clients only pay for what they need.

Although the pricing also takes the size of a company’s specific use case, the pricing of the framework is not tied to the number of messages.

Azure Bot Framework

The Azure Bot Framework is best for businesses that already use other Microsoft Services like Cortana, Skype, Microsoft Teams, etc. This framework seamlessly integrates with existing Microsoft services.

The framework uses Microsoft’s LUIS to comprehend speech. LUIS is a cloud-based artificial intelligence service that uses Natural language processing technologies and machine learning. This is used to understand conversations with humans and extract necessary information.

Pros of Microsoft Bot Framework

• It supports seamless integration with other existing Microsoft services.
• Azure Bot Framework provides several SDKs for various computer languages.

Cons of Microsoft Bot Framework

• It requires a developer to choose between two development platforms is Node.js or C#. The two platforms offer different functionalities, therefore a choice between the two should be based on the needs of the client and how conversant the developer is with either of them.
• The framework is complex. A developer also has to write too much code to implement a basic function with the framework.

Pricing of Azure Bot Framework.

In terms of pricing, the framework offers a free and a paid version. The free version offers up to 1000 messages per month. The paid version operates based on pay as you use. It charges $0.50 per 1,000 messages that are exchanged via the Chatbot. Microsoft also offers additional features on the paid plan that a user can add.

Botpress Framework

Botpress is an open-source framework used to develop AI applications such as chatbots. Languages required to develop using the Bottpress framework are React, NodeJS, JavaScript, and Typescript.

The framework is mostly used by governments, insurance companies, and companies that offer financial services. This is because the framework offers on-site chatbots that improve security unlike when using cloud-based chatbots.

Pros of Botpress Framework.

• It is easily customizable.
• Documentation offered with the framework is easy to understand and use.

Cons of Botpress Framework.

• The framework has limited features as compared to other frameworks.
• The framework uses a high learning curve.

Pricing of Botpress Framework.

Botpress offers two packages, that is the Open-Source package and the Enterprise package. The open-source package is free though it has limited features as compared to the Enterprise package.

The Enterprise package offers the user various features to choose then the pricing is calculated based on the chosen features. This package is designed and developed for use by large organizations.

The features offered by the framework are listed here.

Chatbot Platforms

Kommunicate

Kommunicate is a human+bot hybrid platform for real-time, proactive, and personalized support for growing businesses. The way customer conversations and support are happening is broken, redundant, and time and cost-inefficient. Kommunicate aims to correct it.

Chatbots developed by this platform can be integrated easily with apps such as Whatsapp, WordPress, Squarespace, Facebook, etc.

1. It is easy to use since it is codeless.
2. It provides easy chatbot integration methods.
3. Clear and intuitive dashboard
4. The only player to provide all Mobile SDKs Android, iOS, Ionic, ReactNative, Flutter

1. Since it is a relatively new framework, some of its core functions are not polished up hence they do not work well.

Pricing — Free trial of 30days

For more details click here

Chatfuel

Chatfuel is a bot-building system that offers individuals and enterprises a single and centralized platform from which to create AI conversational chatbots.

Pricing:

For more details click here

Botsify

It is a managed chatbot platform that provides unified chat automation for your business. With omnichannel live-chat service connected with multiple platforms to set auto-responses

1. Pre-built templates for building a chatbot quickly.
2. Easily integrates with websites and other services.

1. UI is not as intuitive as other options

Pricing

Free trial of 14days

• Personal- $40/m
• Professional- $124/m
• Business- $415/m
• Custom- Contact

For more details click here

Landbot

Landbot is a no-code tool to create conversational websites visitors love. Engage and boost conversion with conversations, at scale.

Pricing

• Sandbox — Free
• Starter — $30/month
• Professional — $80/month
• Business — Custom

For more details click here

Tidio

Tidio is a communicator for businesses that keeps live chat, chatbots, Messenger and e-mail in one place.

1. Tidio offers a very simple, clean, robust and customizable interface
2. Automation of new chat widget design is super simple chatbot administration.

1. There is no ticketing system

Pricing

• Free: $0/month
• Chatbots: $39/month
• Communicator: $15/month
• Mailing: $25/month

For more details click here

ProProfs

ProProfs Chatbot is an AI-powered tool that is designed to boost website engagement and customer support. It has wide use cases in various industries like finance, education, and e-commerce.

The tool offers numerous integrations with the most popular CRMs- Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, Zoho CRM, etc. Its customization features allow you to create decision trees consisting of multiple choice and open response questions.

Robust reporting capabilities allow you to measure and improve the chatbot’s performance.
User-friendly interface
Supports over 90 languages to help you cater to a diverse audience.

It has limited integrations with social media platforms.
There is no option to generate social media tickets from the chatbot.
It doesn’t integrate with Zapier.

Pricing

The pricing of ProProfs Chatbot is quite affordable and is perfectly suitable for small and medium businesses.

• 15 Days Free trail
• Essentials plan-$10/month
• Premium plans — $15/operator/month

What to Choose chatbot framework or chatbot platform to build your first bot

Once you decide the best way to boost your website or application is through the use of a chatbot, the first thing to decide on should be the framework to use the platform?

Choosing tools for developing a chatbot, you need to consider your business goals and requirements. After that, you can decide what type of chatbot is required rule-based or AI chatbot.

You should choose the chatbot development framework or platform based on the features you need for your chatbot and the pricing. If you lack the knowledge or expertise required to make an informed decision, you should consult a developer. The framework used for your chatbot can be the determining factor that will either make or break your business. You should, therefore, put much thought into it.

Suggested Read: Chatbot Development From The Scratch

Originally published at https://www.kommunicate.io on September 20, 2021.

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Best 13 AI Chatbot Development Framework & Platforms You Should Know was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In-wheel motor system is a type of EV (electric vehicle) drive system. Electric Motors are directly connected in the wheel where Conventional EVs feature a design and the gasoline engine is substituted with an electric motor.

What is In-wheel motor?

The basic principle behind a vehicle equipped with In-wheel electric motor is simple. The internal combustion engine normally found under the hood is simply not necessary it is replaced with at least two motors located in the hub of the wheels of the vehicle these wheels contain not only the breaking components but also all of the functionality that was formerly performed by the engine, transmission, clutch, suspension and other related parts.

Although the concept is relatively simple in theory and will motors pose a number of questions about performance function and efficiency.

In recent years we have seen some vehicles developers moving towards powertrain configuration where the motor is mounted inside the wheel that is an In-wheel motor system. We must admit there is an impressive amount of new space available when the electric motors are integrated into the wheels and sure these so-called hub motors or In-wheel motors come with certain benefits but they also create some challenges.

In-wheel motor are not new, at the beginning of the 20th century ferdinand porsche’s first hybrid vehicle used hub-mounted electric motors in each wheel. These motors power the wheel directly to the wheel there’s no need for a gearbox or drive shaft. When using a reduction gearbox the speed is reduced and the torque is multiplied. But with an In-wheel motor there is no reduction. In this system wheel speed is equal to motor speed so the required torque and power need to be delivered in a direct drive mode.

In-wheel motors are directly exposed to dust, salt water and other fluids of road and also to vibrations and shocks which shortens their life expectancy. That is one of the main reasons ford eventually decided to ditch the In-wheel motor concepts that they were working on for the new electric f-150 in 2008.

The four In-wheel motors also known as Quad-Motor Drive. These four motors deliver instant power and independently adjust torque at each wheel for precise control in all the conditions and controlling power at the individual level of motors will enables torque vectoring.

What is Torque Vectoring?

Basically torque vectoring is a technology that distributes an engine’s power across the left side and right side of the vehicle. With torque vectoring one side of the wheel on the axle can go faster or slower than other.

Torque vectoring aims to improve steering response and handling through the distribution of the torque between the wheels in vehicle.

How In-Wheel Motor EV is different than other cars?

For traditional IC engine vehicle the drivetrain system consists of conventional mechanical system such as engine, transmission, exhaust, drive shaft, differential.

In a conventional EV the engine is replaced by an electric motor with inverter and a set of batteries installed at the back or at the base of the vehicle.

In the case of EVs that use In-wheel motors all the mechanical subsystems of the powertrain are eliminated and replaced with direct drive and will motors that do not need any driveshaft as they are connected directly to wheels.

About Design

Producing a vehicle that uses In-wheel electric motors is a process that is a lot more complex than just tearing out the engine and then cramming electric motors into the unused space inside the wheel. This type of electric motor is designed to work on hybrid vehicles to improve the efficiency of the full battery operated vehicles and even fuel cell powered electric vehicles.

The amount of power generated by these In-wheel motors can vary depending on the manufacturer and the size of the motor to use. The electric motor is installed inside the wheel and provides power to the wheels directly without the need of any transmission.

The idea of installing the motor inside the wheel rim in an EV is a right choice in this way it can be ensured that the full output of power of the motor is available at the wheel without any mechanical transmission losses.

Do these In-wheel electric motors provide enough torque for every application?

Torque plays an important role in any automobile’s response time and its performance. In a vehicle equipped with In-wheel electric motors there is plenty of torque available almost instantly as a matter of fact.

Electric Motors produce a high amount of torque and since that force is transmitted directly to the wheel each wheel can be equipped with the sensors to determine how much torque is required at any given time.

Efficiency of In-wheel motor

In-wheel motor will always suffer move from no load losses and part load losses. because the motors can’t be de-coupled from the wheels. Some companies claim that the efficiency with In-wheel motors is higher because there is no gearbox, although a gearbox does always introduce a bit of inefficiency the one or two speed gearboxes that are typically used for EVs are much more efficient than the complex multi-stage transmissions seen in combustion engine powertrain.

This loss in the efficiency of vehicle is overcompensated by the fact that due to the gearbox. The electric motor can run on its most efficient operating area resulting in an increase in vehicle range when compared to a direct drive system depending on the use case and driving cycle.

Regenerative Breaking Power

Some of the In-wheel motor design offers regenerative breaking as well, that means the system captures some of its own kinetic energy while breaking and sends it back to charge the battery.

Some hybrids such as the toyota prius and tesla roadster already incorporate this regenerative breaking technology which provide the automobiles with a longer driving range. One of the greatest advantages of the In-wheel motors is the fact that the power goes straight from the motor directly to the wheel reducing the distance the power travels increases the efficiency of the motor. For Example- In city driving conditions an internal combustion engine may only run at 20% efficiency meaning that most of its energy is lost or wasted via the mechanical methods employed to get the power to the wheels, but in In-wheel motor in the same environment is said to operate at about 90% efficiency.

Is this the future of Electric Vehicles?

Porsche engineering has developed a torque control system for a four motor electric vehicle drivetrain that lets electric SUVs handle with the ability of a sports car in even the most difficult conditions. Because of the much faster responsiveness of an electric motor as compared to an IC engine EV traction control system can respond much more quickly.

In an electric vehicle the torque is purely electronically controlled which works considerable faster than mechanical clutches. Every millisecond intelligent software distributes the forces in such a way that the vehicle always behaves neutrally but porsche’s solution is not just all-wheel drive it utilizes for separate motors one controlling each wheel in the vehicle.

There are advantages and disadvantages to multiple motors, more motors increase cost and complexity but eliminates the need for a drive-shaft and gives more control. Motors can also increase unsprung weight which can have some negative effects on handling and ride quality.

For Example- It becomes possible to rotate the wheels 90 degrees and drive to the left or the right or even rotate in place instead of just driving forward or backward. This adds another dimension to how the car can move around and makes it easy to navigate tight spaces.

The new rivian r1t features one engine for each wheel this quad motor drivetrain enables the rivian truck to handle like a sports sedan on-road and 4 by 4 off-road with ease this reportedly makes the r1t the fastest truck in the world.

Advantages of In-wheel motor

In-wheel motors are easy to install and replace they add flexibility as they can be used to power rear or front-wheel drive as well as all-wheel drive vehicles without much change in drive-chain they are compact in size as the entire motor is inside the wheel In-wheel motors provides high efficiency due to the lack of mechanical losses from transmission differential and drive shafts and makes the car to run quieter with electronic motor control. This means features such ABS, traction control and even cruise control could be handled more efficiently.

Disadvantages of In-wheel motors

The major challenge in In-wheel motors face is the issue of unsprung weight, unsprung weight is the mass of all components including the frame, motor, passengers and body that are not supported by a vehicle’s suspension. Unsprung weight includes wheels, breaks and it travels up and down over any bumps and potholes and it tries to follow the contours of the road and with hub motors being part of the vehicle’s unsprung weight they will the impact of every pothole bump and high speed turn.

Also they will be exposed to road dirt, mud, dust water and road salt that can be reduce the life of the motors. In-wheel motors are expensive than a single motor mount on rear axle.

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In-Wheel Motor System was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As learning is no longer defined by the four walls of a classroom, virtual educational tools have increased in popularity. For example, data from statista.com shows that in the first quarter of 2020 Google Play saw 466 million downloads of educational apps. That number continues to grow especially amid various social changes.

To help bridge the gap between eager learners and accessible education, Bot Libre has launched its latest mobile app — Virtual English Tutor. The app has features that have been proven by experts to increase memory and learning outcomes and are currently being developed to meet individual user needs.

Features:

• Conversational English Lessons
• Different learning categories — greetings, job interviews, and dating.
• Chat segment for conversational practice

Virtual English Tutor is meant to offer English lessons to persons interested in learning English as a second language or to sharpen their current English skills. The app is also designed as a virtual tool for English tutors to engage with students in the environments they spend most of their time, on the phone, and online. Since English is recognized as one of the universal languages, the need for educational tools like Virtual English Tutor is of utmost importance.

“The app is a good demonstration of how the Bot Libre platform can be used in education. We will continue to create more lessons and with the active engagement of English teachers, the app can facilitate curriculum-based content.”, said CEO and expert software architect of Bot Libre, James Sutherland.

Benefits of Learning A New Language

• Heightens creativity
• Develops good communication skills
• Improves memory and other cognitive functions

Benefits of the Virtual English Tutor App

• Offers 24.7 learning availability
• Provides new and exciting learning techniques
• Creates a marketplace for English teachers
• Self-paced

To access these benefits and more, users can download the app for free on Google Play, where they will be provided with free lessons and a chance to be first in line when new and exciting features are added.

Bot Libre is an open-source platform for chatbot development and artificial intelligence solutions fit for the metaverse.

For additional information, contact:

sales@botlibre.com or visit the website https://www.botlibre.com/

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Learning English Made Easy- Bot Libre’s Mobile App was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Artificial Intelligence doesn’t need to be a grim topic to discuss. Replete with possibilities to become the most transformative tool in the years to come, AI is fast shaping into an assistive resource instead of staying on course as an overwhelming tech. Clubbed with Machine Learning algorithms and principles of Data Mining, AI is rapidly moving towards a summit way too steep for human contemplation.

But then, AI and Machine Learning discussions need not be as complex as the tech itself. AI, in its entirety, is expected to be an industry and business commonplace in the next few months to come, and therefore, it is important to check out some era-altering current trends in AI that might gain a lot of traction moving into 2022.

What is The Basis for Enlisting Recent Trends in AI in 2022?

Tech trends are perceptive stepping stones that give us a sneak peek into the future. For enlisting AI and ML trends in 2022, it is therefore important to understand that global firms are already contemplating AI-driven projects over the course of the next year, and riding on these positive speculations, the AI and ML market seems to be riding rapidly towards the $9 billion market valuation.

And for a tech space as big as this, it is only appropriate to know some of the raging trends in advance to pre-empt innovation faster than most.

6 Future AI Trends that Require Detailing

The concept of machines evolving beyond contemplation and being able to think independently is already huge. But then, trends are better descriptions of how machine learning and thinking abilities can actually make their presence felt in the real world.

Also read: Top 10 IoT Mobile App Development Trends to Expect in 2021

Trend 1: Augmented Workforce and Intelligence

Have you ever come across a thought that what would happen if machines become intelligent enough to replace humans, especially when the focus is on amplifying workforce productivity? Well, that might be a thing to worry about in the future. For now, at least in 2022, we might see the evolution of augmented workforces, a space where humans and intelligent machines will coexist.

Unsure about how an augmented workforce would pan out! Here are the key pointers relevant to the same:

• Cohesive cognitive functionality, with machines helping humans grasp the concepts better
• Quicker and more accurate lead generation
• Pre-emptive maintenance schedule for industrial components
• Faster information procurement
• Generation of smarter tools for eliminating errors
• Better business forecasting
• NLP-powered fraud detection systems
• Better aggregated financials

Trend 2: Improved Healthcare

Also, the following benefits of an augmented workforce might vary depending on the industry you plan on influencing with AI and ML insights. On digging deeper, we would see that augmented workforce and augmented intelligence also have roles to play in Healthcare AI, with doctors benefiting significantly from faster threat detection and intelligent imaging resources.

One such use case has to be the insanely accurate CT scanning space, where AI can be an instrumental resource to improve speed and lower overall costs. However, efficient data annotation services are important to consider for this trend to hold.

Also, with virtual healthcare getting a more persistent nod in the post-covid era, virtual monitoring and crowd detection technologies are expected to work hand-in-hand with the realigned healthcare domain.

Trend 3: Conversational AI and Hyper Automation

As 2021 draws to an eventful end, 2022 might just see companies focusing way more on data quality. While the approach to training AI and ML models still primarily hinges on data quantity, with credible data collection and annotation firms coming into the picture, quality will also be a factor.

And if a company plans on launching conversational AI models like Siri and Bixby, it would be important to strike the perfect balance between volume and quality to make the models successful.

And is Hyper Automation even a word? Well, it would be, in 2022, courtesy of the AI and Data Science confluence. And if you aren’t privy to the more technical terms, Hyper Automation is more about seamless task automation with advanced technologies put to use, more so with Conversational AI models to assist.

Coming to the tech stack forcing the Hyper Automation revolution, it all boils down to RPA (Robotic Process Automation), ML, Cognitive learning, and obviously, AI. Also, if you are into specifics, this intelligent form of automation is expected to be an asset in:

• Driving faster system integrations
• Improving employee productivity
• Amplifying the entire customer support setup with the integration of intelligent chatbots
• Facilitating conversation and intent analysis to understand customer sentiments better

Trend 4: AR, VR, and the Metaverse

The concept of Metaverse and its connection to Web 3.0 is making companies reinvent the wheel. And with 2022 already knocking at the doors, the focus will initially be on developing the best Augmented and Virtual Reality offerings to be more Metaverse-relevant.

And what’s heartening to see is that even today, almost 90% of the top brands are stoked enough to incorporate AR & VR tech for pushing marketing campaigns. With experienced service providers offering better AR & VR data collection and annotation services, Augmented and Virtual Realities will soon rival the reality we are currently inhabiting.

Trend 5: Improved Focus on Data Annotation

Did we just say data annotation? Yes, we certainly did, as data labelling will hold the key to better AI and ML models in the months to come. But that’s not it. Data annotation, despite being very much there, is still a sluggish and time-consuming process. In 2022, riding on the innovations adopted by leading data annotation firms, the process of labelling will shift towards a more automated format.

The focus, therefore, will be on speed labelling, smart validation of data sets, and pre-labelling to make the sequencing and clustering faster than ever.

Also read: How to Start An E-commerce Business From Scratch in 2021

Trend 6: Autonomous Vehicles

Wait, aren’t autonomous vehicles already around? Yes, they are, but 2022 will see a massive rise in their global adoption, courtesy of AI-powered tech and the inclusion of improved self-driving capabilities. With Computer Vision is slowly moving up the ranks to improve the perceptive abilities of machines, experienced data annotation firms are progressively trying to make self-driven cars more intelligent. And moving into 2022, the primary focal points would include:

• Improved on-road categorization
• Better object detection and localization
• Semantic segmentation for better object understanding, and more

And that’s not it. We are expecting the first-ever Autonomous Ship to surface in 2022. Now that’s as big as it can get.

Wrap-Up

But wait! Are these the only future AI trends that we need to watch out for going into 2022. Not exactly as you should even keep your eyes open for the likes of Creative AI, improved Conversational AI, and Explainable AI in the future. However, these tech trends might take some time to settle down, and if you are only interested in the immediate future, i.e., the next few months, these six trends might see increased global adoption, riding on the able shoulders of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

And if you are an organization looking to strengthen offerings with new AI-drive resources whilst making good use of any of the relevant trends, it is important to connect with credible and experienced data collection, data annotation, and data cleansing firms to get the data sets prepared, well in advance. As in the end, it all boils down to the quality of data fed into these intelligent AI and ML setups.

Originally published at https://www.the-next-tech.com on February 4, 2022.

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6 Era Altering AI and ML Trends to Watch Out for in 2022 was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As a Google assistant owner you must have wanted a feature like incognito mode or something like that to search for a surprise gift on your partner’s birthday. So Google now made your wish true. With this new ‘Guest Mode’ on Google Home and Google Nest smart speakers any of your conversations with Google assistants won’t get saved.

However, Google doesn’t state the fact they save your ‘ok Google’ recordings by default and you can view or delete data anytime but still we wanted something more prominent and for that ‘Guest Mode’ is here to do that job. It will automatically delete all the recordings and conversations you had with Google assistant and nothing will be stored on your history.

So now let’s get straight to how you can enable Guest mode on your Google Home speaker

The best part of this feature is you don’t have play tricky to get this feature on. Just command “hey! Google, Enable/turn on Guest Mode” and boom you are ready to use it.

And when you are done with your private conversation with Google just command “hey Google, turn the guest mode off”.

And in case, if you forget whether it’s on or off just ask “hey Google, is the ‘Guest mode’ on ?”.

However, there are some limitations such as while having ‘Guest Mode’ on you can’t update of your events from Google Calendar or access any personal contact. But otherwise you can do plenty of things.

Well, this ‘Guest mode’ feature is now only available in English speaking regions.

Don’t forget to give us your 👏 !

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Guide to How you can use Google Assistant Guest Mode on your Google Home smart speaker was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Well, the very first question that might end up troubling you would be ‘WHAT IS ROUTINES HERE?’. We know well, but don’t worry pal it’s one of those things again which offers you comfort.

Routines have to do with how gadgets respond to your commands rather than simply turning them on and off, which has long been a characteristic of Groups within the Alexa app. That could mean dimming some lights, changing the color of others, or turning up the heat to a specific setting.

Alexa Routines allows you to regulate your smart home with a unified command, allowing you to get the functionalities you desire from your smart house. Amazon has further incorporated music, podcasts, and radio into the mix. It has also recently made it easier to connect Routines with friends and family by providing URLs found in the Alexa app.

Who wouldn’t want restful nights of sleep? If you count yourself in then I bet you wouldn’t want to miss out on any of the following steps:

To begin an Alexa Routine, simply open the Alexa app, select More, and then Routines.

A list of your prevailing Routines will be displayed, and Amazon will suggest a few to get you started under Featured. To start a new one, either click one of these or strike the + in the top-right corner.

The screen is straightforward, with only two options:

This is primarily the brief command you’ll give Alexa when this occurs. To insert one, click the + button and select from a variety of options.

If you select Voice, then the Alexa voice command will be used to start the Routine. All you have to do now is individually type it in. Maintain a natural and clear tone with whatever you say.

ALEXA CLEVER HOME ACTIONS

Smart Home Technology Smart sensors and device status are used in routines to initiate an action. After you’ve chosen the conditions for your routine, you’ll need to append all of the actions. Simply click the + icon beside Add action to do so.

The components and smart home devices that will be operated when you speak your selected command are the actions you incorporate into your Routine.

We’ll run through some of the options briefly below, but it’s important to note that you might not have to start from the ground. You can use the shortest route to operate specific Groups or Scenes that you’ve set up in the Alexa app.

Lights-You can append savvy lights to your Routine for more than just on/off control. Compatible wise bulbs can have their illumination, tonality, and color adjusted.

Thermostats and smart heating-You can regulate thermal spots in your home with an on/off setting that refers to the standard temperature in the Smart Home listing, or by choosing customized temperatures for the Routine if your smart heating brand endorses it.

Smart plugs — You can switch on/off smart plugs from your Routine, which is good for tasks like lamps (without smart bulbs), gaming systems, kettles, and more.

Music/speakers — You can now include tunes, podcasts, and radio in your Routine. That’s an important part of creating better wake-up and nap time recipes.

Robot vacuum cleaners — With a good late-night routine, your robot vacuum cleaner may be able to do its job while you stay in bed.

Another excellent suggestion is to use a smart humidity sensor to activate the system for air-conditioning.

Alexa Routines can include features such as the ones listed below, in addition to activating smart home devices.

News — Alexa can interpret your flash to debrief, which is comprised of media abilities. It’s like getting a customized news broadcast tailored to your preferences.

Weather — Have Alexa read you the weather report, ideally as part of a morning routine. Keep in mind that these can be set to go off at the same time as your alarm.

Calendar — Whether it’s today or the future, Alexa would go over your calendar. You can also have it notify you of the upcoming occasion on your calendar.

Want to share your routine with your close ones?

To have the easily accessible URL, open the Alexa app, go to Routines, click the preferred Routine, and choose whether to share by message, mailing, or social networks.

When your loved ones receive the URL, they will be guided through some on-screen guidelines in the Alexa app and should see some fields in the yellow text where they must select which device a step of the Routine should be performed on.

Don’t forget to give us your 👏 !

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For a better home, know how to set up and use Alexa Routines. was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Wenn Unternehmen den Einsatz von Voice Bots und Chatbots erwägen, steht in der Regel diese Frage im Raum: 

Wollen unsere Kund:innen überhaupt einen virtuellen Assistenten benutzen? 

Laut dem Report “The New Rules of Customer Engagement” ist die Antwort auf die Frage ein klares Ja. 69 % der Kunden sind bereit, mit einem Chatbot zu interagieren. Allerdings möchten sie das nur bei einfachen Problemen. Offensichtlich ist die Antwort eben doch nicht ganz so simpel. 

Daher wollen wir in diesem Blog Beitrag einmal genauer betrachten, wann Personen bereit sind, mit virtuellen Assistenten zu interagieren und wofür sie Chatbots nutzen möchten.

In welchen Situationen sind Personen bereit, mit virtuellen Assistenten zu sprechen?

Wenn man die Ergebnisse verschiedener Chatbot-Studien betrachtet, fällt vor allem eins auf: Die Nutzer:innen möchten schnell eine Antwort. 

So gaben 69% der Befragten bei der Chatbot Survey 2017 an, dass sie lieber einen Bot anstelle eines menschlichen Agenten kontaktieren, wenn sie dadurch ihre Antwort sofort erhalten. 

Bei der 2021 erhobenen Chatbot Studie antworteten 75% der Befragten auf die Frage “Was hat Ihnen an der Interaktion mit einem Chatbot besonders gut gefallen?”, dass ihnen die Geschwindigkeit, mit der sie ihre Antwort bekommen haben, am besten gefallen hat.

Des Weiteren möchte die Mehrheit der Personen ihr Problem selbstständig lösen. Bei dem Report CX Trends 2022 gaben 76% der Personen an, dass sie es vorziehen, mit einer Self-Service Solution ihr Problem selbst in Angriff zu nehmen, bevor sie den Kundensupport kontaktieren. Gerade einmal 24% der Personen gaben an, dass sie sofort den Kundenservice kontaktieren würden. 

Virtuelle Assistenten sind also besonders gut geeignet für unkomplizierte Anfragen, bei den die Nutzer:innen schnell eine Antwort haben wollen oder etwas eigenständig lösen möchten.

In diesen Studien wurde die Bereitschaft von Kund:innen, mit einem Chatbot zu interagieren, untersucht. Die Ergebnisse lassen sich aber gut auf Chatbots für die interne Kommunikation übertragen. Auch hier möchten die Mitarbeiter:innen ihre Probleme schnell gelöst bekommen und brauchen dafür nicht immer den direkten Austausch mit der IT-Abteilung oder HR.

Wann ziehen Kund:innen es vor, mit menschlichen Mitarbeiter:innen zu sprechen?

Bei komplexeren Anliegen bevorzugen Personen jedoch den Kontakt mit menschlichen Mitarbeiter:innen. Das Gleiche gilt, wenn sie aufgebracht, wütend oder in einer anderen emotionalen Verfassung sind, in der Empathie und Fingerspitzengefühl erforderlich ist.

Für solche Fälle ist es unabdingbar, dass der Chatbot in der Lage ist, Nutzer:innen unkompliziert an einen menschlichen Mitarbeiter weiterzuleiten. Dies geschieht über ein Human Handover. Wenn die Wortwahl der Nutzer:innen nahelegt, dass eine Übernahme durch menschliche Mitarbeiter sinnvoll ist, wird die Konversation von dem Chatbot an einen Menschen weitergegeben. Hierfür wird die Sentiment Analyse verwendet. Bei der Sentiment-Analyse werden bestimmte Wörter als positiv oder negativ klassifiziert. Der Chatbot analysiert die von den Nutzer:innen verwendeten Worte. Wenn die von den Nutzer:innen verwendeten Wörter einen gewissen Prozentsatz an negativ kategorisierten Begriffen übersteigt, wird die Konversation an einen menschlichen Mitarbeiter weitergegeben.

Es ist aber auch möglich, dass die Nutzer:innen selber den Human Handover auslösen, in dem sie den virtuellen Assistenten darum bitten an einen Mitarbeiter weitergeleitet zu werden.

Virtuelle Assistenten können also eine große Unterstützung für Kund:innen und auch Mitarbeiter sein. Sie müssen nur für die richtigen Situationen eingesetzt werden. Dann werden sie auch gerne genutzt.

Akzeptanz von Chatbots – Wollen meine Kunden überhaupt einen virtuellen Assistenten benutzen?

Use Cases,User Experience,Best Practices

Mai 31, 2022

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Der Beitrag Akzeptanz von Chatbots – Wollen meine Kunden überhaupt einen virtuellen Assistenten benutzen? erschien zuerst auf BOTfriends.

Assessments are common in almost all situations including sports, art, and health, but it’s most prevalent in educational bodies as there are countless education and student assessments throughout the year.

Just think of all your online assessments, in-class tests, pop quizzes, quarterly exams, annual exams, and major leaving examinations.

So, what’s the problem with assessments? Is there even a problem? And should we try to change it when nothing seems awry? This is why..

Companies are forever seeking opportunities to save time, increase efficiency, promote positive customer relationships and boost their revenues. To achieve this, many businesses readily invest in hiring customer service agents. A 2017 article by Forbes shows that the customer service industry is a booming market, at the time valuing $350 Billion.

So customer service is key to your business’s success, but what of companies with limited resources like a startup? Or organizations whose employees are already stretched thin?

A virtual agent provides a welcome solution.

A virtual agent is a term typically used to describe a type of chatbot for businesses.

Virtual agents offer help with websites, give information about their companies products or services, answer users’ questions, and provide support, sales, and customer service. They are an automated version of a human customer service agent made up of artificial intelligence applications that have come to seamlessly interact with human intelligence.

Bot Libre makes it EASY for you to create your chatbot or virtual agent for your business.

For free, and with no programming required, you can create your bot, and embed it on your website, mobile app, or social media. You can create bots for website help, technical support, sales, marketing, customer service, or to automate social media, thus improving your online presence.

Training Your Chatbot

Chatbots can be trained using one of several simple options.

• Import FAQs, scripts, and chat logs
• Review and edit responses from Admin Console’s Training & Chat Logs page
• Have conversations with yourself and others
• Listening in on the chatbot during a live chat

Bot Libre bots support advanced artificial intelligence that can be enabled to let bots learn and comprehend language. Bots can also be scripted and programmed using AIML, and the Self (a dialect of JavaScript).

To create your very own free chatbot, see How to create your chatbot in 10 clicks You can also watch this video on How to Add a Virtual Agent to your website

Once you have created your chatbot, you can begin to train it using the steps above. Then you can personalize it to suit your website. You can change your bot’s picture or choose an animated avatar from the Bot Libre Avatar page in its Admin Console. You can also connect your bot to Twitter, Facebook, Skype, Telegram, Kik, WeChat, email, or SMS. You can import chat logs, words from Wiktionary, or data from WikiData. You can browse the internal structure of your bot’s memory. If you’re an advanced user, you can program or script your bot using AIML or Self. You can view your bot’s log.

Embedding Your Chatbot Onto Your Website

The Embed page generates the HTML/JavaScript code required to embed your bot on your website. Simply copy the code in the top text area, and paste it into the page on your website you want the bot to appear on.

The Embed page provides several different types of embedding, and many embedding options to control the look of the bot on your page. The “Box” embedding option is the most common for a virtual agent and gives you a “Chat Now” button on your page.

The embed page also lets you enter a CSS styles sheet to customize the look and feel of your bot’s popup. You can also customize the style settings in the generated code.

The embedding code uses JavaScript and the open-source Bot Libre JavaScript SDK. You can customize the JavaScript however you wish. There are also more embedding options available in the JavaScript object, such as prompting the user for their contact information.

Styles

Bot Libre supports several different types of button and chat styles to enhance user experience.

Button Styles

Here are just 5 of the 11 Bot Libre button styles for the embedding page. Simply select any button style from the button style drop down menu.

Chat Styles

Bot Libre now supports five chat styles. Pick one of the five different chat styles for your embedding by selecting a specific stylesheet option from Style Sheet drop down menu.

Custom Styles

Bot Libre also supports custom style sheets. Simply select “Custom Style” from the style sheet drop down menu. Enter the URL pointing to your custom style sheet in the custom style sheet input field, and press the “Generate Code” button. You can copy the code from any of the existing style sheets to make your own custom style. You will need to host your custom style sheet on your own website, or in the Bot Libre script library.

If you also want to add live chat to your website, you can do that by creating a Live Chat Channel, and getting its embed code from its embed page.

That’s it, good luck creating your bots! If you have any questions, encountered any issues or would like help setting up your bot, you can contact support@botlibre.com , or chat with the Help Bot or upgrade to our Platinum service where we can build your bot for you, contact sales@botlibre.biz .

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Easy Guide To Having A Virtual Agent For Your Website was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Ally McBeal, an American drama that was popular in the 2000s, has an episode about a woman who chooses euthanasia because of her “dream” family. The story starts with a woman with an absurd demand of living her life in a dream with her “dream” family through euthanasia instead of her reality where she is alone. Usually, dreams are not continuous, but the woman can continue the same dream when she sleeps and live a totally different life. This episode is especially memorable because the story is very relatable to the element of “Metaverse” in the 21st century. New technologies are shifting our imagination closer to reality.

Metaverse has become a buzzword in the IT industry recently. The Metaverse is a 3-dimensional virtual world where social, economic, and cultural activity takes place. Virtual reality has become more popular in the last few years, so many companies are working on making the Metaverse a reality. Facebook, Microsoft and NVIDIA are all working on a version of the Metaverse. Facebook has changed their company name to Meta, Microsoft is working on “enterprise Metaverse,” and NVIDIA is working on a project they’ve named Omnibus.

Why Is the Metaverse So Popular?

Metaverse is the next step in virtual reality (VR). While VR allows you to immerse yourself in gameplay through an avatar, the Metaverse will allow you to engage in a range of social and cultural activities.

Millennials will remember a popular online chat room, Habbo Hotel, that allowed users to create rooms, personalize their avatar, and engage in conversations and games with other users. Habbo Hotel and chat rooms of the early 2000s like Club Penguin were the predecessors of the Metaverse. They allowed a certain amount of personalization and social activities, but the Metaverse promises an immersive experience through the use of VR technology.

The Metaverse that tech giants like Meta (formerly Facebook) envision is like an online world where users can work in virtual offices, attend virtual concerts, and even walk virtual pets with their friends. The Metaverse is so popular because it represents breaking down the final barrier in globalization, location. Location will no longer be an issue in catching up with friends or attending events. You can do all of those things from the comfort of your own home.

Not just for gamers, the Metaverse provides more freedom in communication and life.

A lot of dystopian sci-fi books and movies have examined this concept of a “second-life.” Think about the Matrix movies, Ready Player One, or Snow Crash, where the term the Metaverse originated. Virtual reality gaming allows players to immerse themselves in gameplay, but the Metaverse will allow people to conduct life in a virtual environment. Many experts believe that Covid-19 was a catalyst to the sudden interest in the Metaverse. Since reality was restricted due to the pandemic, communication moved largely online.

To look at where it all began, we need to look at online gaming. Two great examples of this are Zepetto and Roblox.

Zepetto

Zepetto is an AR avatar-based service created by Naver Snow. It was derived from their camera application Snow, which allows users to turn selfies into avatars. Zepetto was launched in 2018 and has grown exponentially since then, surpassing 200 million users in 2021. In 2019, Zepetto even ranked first in the app stores of 37 countries.

The functionality of Snow allows users to create 3D avatars by taking photos of their faces. Deep learning-based facial recognition software creates an avatar that they can then customize with skin, eye, and hair color. Once the avatar has been created, users play games and communicate on social media through Zepetto.

Zepetto has a circular structure that allows users to create anything they can imagine. Avatars function as if they were real people with personalities and can participate in activities like in real life. In Zepetto, users can:

• Travel
• Participate in dance competitions
• Cook for friends
• Tour a house

Users can record their activities and share them on their social media feeds within Zepetto. This has been done over 1 billion times to date.

Roblox

Roblox differs from Zepetto in that it concentrates on games rather than social functions. Roblox boasts 43 million daily active users and is particularly popular with teenagers in the US. It was released in 2006 and now operates in over 180 countries, and over half of American teenagers under the age of 16 use Roblox.

The driving force behind Roblox is “openness.” Unlike other gaming platforms, users can create and distribute their own games on the Roblox platform. The Roblox environment makes it easy for people to create games using simple coding, and elementary school students in particular use this feature with gusto. There are as many as 50 million games on Roblox, and more than 10 million games are played every month.

While the most popular games are provided by game companies, the individual users also create games and earn money through contributions.

The Metaverse: Removing Daily Commutes

The Covid-19 pandemic’s remote work requirements identified another use of the Metaverse. While technology makes it easier to work from home and to communicate with colleagues, the work environment was lacking. A major benefit of working from an office is the ability to collaborate and network with colleagues. Remote work adds barriers to those activities, and many people who started new roles in the pandemic reported that they didn’t know any of their colleagues.

It seems that flexible work arrangements are popular, with many workers wanting the option of working from home in order to reduce the cost and time of a daily commute. However, the Metaverse will be able to bridge the gap and allow more connection throughout the workday.

Virtual workplaces are already in use across the world. eXP Realty, a US real estate broker, has been using a virtual office since 2009. They needed to cut costs after the housing crisis but didn’t want to lose the benefit of sharing knowledge around the office. While it took a little while to adjust to moving around in a virtual space, realtors quickly took to the platform. eXP Realty has even implemented office etiquette guidelines for their virtual office like respect closed office doors. Open office doors in their virtual workspace mean colleagues can enter freely to collaborate.

How Will the Metaverse Look in the Future?

So far, it is hard to tell because the Metaverse is in very early stages. Currently, users explore virtual spaces through an avatar and can use text or voice chat to communicate with other avatars. When tech leaders speak about the Metaverse, they talk about creating realistic experiences such as virtual concerts and product launches. But so far, it is hard to see how that can be achieved in a realistic way.

The one thing we do know is that a lot of investment is going into creating the Metaverse and there is a lot of interest from people and companies in creating this virtual world. We predict that the Metaverse will bring wide scale change and that people will spend increasing amounts of time in the Metaverse, both professionally and in their personal time. The Software Policy Research Institute predicted that Metaverse platform B2C games and social networking would gain mainstream attention in 2020 and 2021, and from that point, adoption would spread to B2B and B2G areas. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) predicted that the Metaverse will be worth 300 trillion in the next five years as companies are discussing Metaverse real estate and corporate opportunities.

We believe that a growth focus in the Metaverse will improve the realism of the content. This is something that tech companies are already working on as a marketing differentiator. So far, the Metaverse will combine AR, VR, and MR (Mixed Reality) technology to allow users to move around the virtual world, seeing through an HMD (head-mounted display.) There has been talk of incorporating other senses such as touch and smell that will relate to the visual content. Another prediction is that companies can create avatars for AI technology, called MetaHumans, who can interact with the virtual world and avatars as a human-controlled avatar would.

All we can say for sure is that we are excited about the possibilities the Metaverse will bring to the world both in terms of personal and business impact. We advise companies to watch out for new developments so they can be quick to jump onboard trends and adapt to the virtual world.

Communicating Knowledge, Saltlux.

1. Before Meta, there was Habbo: How social games laid the framework for the metaverse
2. The virtual office of the future might look a lot like your favorite video game

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The Arrival of the Metaverse was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.