Talking to chatbots

[Martin-O2]

Hi guys, 

Chatbots or virtual assistants have become both more widespread and more sophisticated over the past few years with many companies using them not just for online chat but for phone conversations too. 

While some people are happy to deal with virtual help with their queries others would rather deal with a human being. 

What are your thoughts on chatbots? Do you prefer the human touch or are you fine with an algorithm managing your query? Would you still use the forum if there was a virtual community manager? 

Further reading

[viridis]

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@Martin-O2 wrote:

@MI5 There far from perfect currently but we might see them become more prevalent as they software gets better. 

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To be fair, they said the same about built in spell checkers and auto correct. They fail often.

[Cleoriff]

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@Martin-O2 wrote:

@Cleoriff Algorithm is a fantastic word. As for a virtual community managers as the technology improves it might get harder and harder to tell the difference between a person and bot. I hope not though as I'd be out of a job! 

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Sooooo.......imagine this scenario. A chatbot is programmed with a set of rules. I am having a bad day due to personal circumstances. ...I then take my frustration out on another member of the forum. I become rude arrogant and dismissive. Would chatbot understand I am having an off day 'because Cleo isn't normally like that' (lol)...would I get a warning or be banned? How would that algorithm work?

[MI5]

Immediate ban

[Martin-O2]

@viridis That's a good point, spell checkers still miss some obvious ones! 

@Cleoriff Pure speculation of course but the program would have access to your previous posts and could identify that the frustrated comments were out of the ordinary and base the response using a predetermined set of rules. I'm sure that the human touch would still be required for a lot of decisions. 

I don't see a program being sophisticated enough to do this kind of things for at least a decade though. 

[Cleoriff]

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@MI5 wrote:
Immediate ban

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Better not let you programme that damn chatbot then....

[MI5]

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@Cleoriff wrote:

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@MI5 wrote:
Immediate ban

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Better not let you programme that damn chatbot then....

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I'm working on my own version 

[gmarkj]

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@Martin-O2 wrote:

@viridis That's a good point, spell checkers still miss some obvious ones! 

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Not just spelling but also grammar as well!

And don't get me started on the their/there/they're etc etc...

[Martin-O2]

@gmarkj Yeah sometimes they point out a grammar error when there is none. Very annoying.

@Cleoriff @MI5 Haha you can call it the banbot. perma bans for everyone! 

[Cleoriff]

Banbot....like the name...Not the idea though....

[Martin-O2]

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@Cleoriff wrote:

Banbot....like the name...Not the idea though....

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The forum would be a ghost town within hours of deployment