6 keys to building a successful human-like chatbot

Talking, expressing ourselves through words, using speech to exchange information is something that comes natural to humans. Then why don’t we just talk with goods and service providers on the internet, instead of using all kinds of user interfaces, buttons and drop-down lists? Could be, that our technology, in general, is just not up to the task yet?

If our bot development goal is to create a human-like chatbot that people would really enjoy using, it might be helpful to have these keys in mind:

• Personality

Endow your chatbot with character; make it human-like. Let the chatbot respond like a person we all like talking to: funny, but not in a mocking way; personal, but not disrespectful.

• Accessibility of information

How annoying are all those menus where you must give first lots of details about what you want (what size… what colour… what price…) in order to get closer to what you need. Well your chatbot should act in the opposite way. It shouldn’t put the user through a tiresome interview but understand him, and quickly react to his queries.

• Personalization

A real superpower chatbots have, is its capacity to hold various conversations with different users at a time. Plus, AI and bots can remember quite a lot of information; so why not use this to send to each user personalized messages about things he may be particularly interested in.

If he asked a chatbot in the past about one of the rock bands, maybe he will be interested in their new album. This will defiantly take your chatbot over the top, it will not only help the users life but improve it.

• Testing

Be aware of the capacities and weaknesses of your chatbot at all times. The Japanese use a methodology called KAIZEN, which in simple terms means contentious improvement. Testing and improving your work will finally help you create the best chatbot.

• Let people express themselves

People should be able to talk to your chatbot just as they talk to other humans. Here, Natural Language Understanding becomes key; If your chatbot understands queries said in diverse ways, not only basic commands and keywords, the conversation will be smooth and satisfying.

• Not perfect, but prepared

Chatbots, like humans, are far from being perfect. For this reason, you must prepare your chatbot to react when the query cannot be understood, information is missing, or if it is incoherent.

This doesn’t mean repeating the same question or saying, “I didn’t get it” every single time.

Keeping these important chatbot development keys in mind, while creating your own first and foremost be imaginative! 

If you want to know more about how chatbots work please contact us