It’s no secret that AI is changing the way that businesses interact with customers online. From the changes made to Google’s search algorithms to enhanced targeting in social media ads, no business can afford to forego the benefits offered by artificial intelligence. One marketing tool that AI has significantly improved is the trusty chatbot, and those improvements have made it a more viable choice for interacting with customers.
In theory, chatbots can help answer your customers’ questions, schedule their appointments, assist them in finding the products they’re looking for, and so much more. In today’s blog, we’ll be breaking down some of the functionality that these bots possess and whether they’re a viable tool that your business ought to be using. Read on to learn more!
Chatbots Throughout the Years
Though we’ve come to associate chatbots with the modern era of the internet, some of the first lines of code that we consider chatbots actually came about in the 1960s. Published by computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum, ELIZA was a program designed to identify key words in a user’s input and then reply with a related phrase. In doing so, ELIZA was able to answer simple questions or ask for details. However, this only worked on a limited basis.
Decades would go by, and bots like this would slowly improve over time. The genesis of the internet, however, would prove to be instrumental in boosting these bots’ performance. Companies like Meta designed these bots to learn from user messages and inputs, allowing them to replicate and mimic those patterns in their responses. For the last decade, some websites have offered very basic and limited chatbots that can help with simple tasks, like checking an order status or answering FAQ.
Today’s Chatbots
The bots that you’ll see these days, however, are powered by AI-backed software. An example of this software is ChatGPT – ChatGPT’s algorithms crawled through mountains of information, identifying patterns and useful information. After being “trained” like this, AI software can often make sophisticated replies to questions and requests that are nearly indistinguishable from a human reply, which makes them perfect for use by businesses.
By installing a widget on your website, these bots can be harnessed for use to answer your customers’ questions. Users will see a small pop-up window, usually in the bottom right corner of their screen, and a brief message offering assistance from a chatbot. There, customers can ask important questions and get the best information, as if they’re talking to a real person. Unlike a person, however, these bots are ready to answer questions 24/7/365.
Chatbot Pros and Cons
Their round-the-clock availability is one of the biggest advantages of these bots, but it’s not the only advantage that they present to businesses. Chatbots can provide consistent answers to questions with extremely short response times. Unlike human representatives, chatbots can handle hundreds of conversations simultaneously, providing cost-effective scalability for your business.
There’s certainly a lot to love about these chatbots, but it’s also important to recognize some of their downsides. While chatbots can save money in the long run, it does cost money to implement and license this technology in the short-term. Businesses also run the risk of facing backlash as consumers recognize that they’re talking to a bot and not a person. Statistics show that customers have more positive experiences when talking to a real person over a bot, and overreliance on technology can actually be seen as a negative by many customers. Lastly, AI algorithms are still largely unregulated, which can lead to significant data privacy concerns for businesses and customers alike.
AI chatbots can be a powerful tool for engaging customers and driving conversions on your website, but there’s certainly a lot to consider before simply implementing them. If your business is thinking about a website revamp, or would like to explore the possibilities presented by chatbot widgets, then you should get in touch with us!
We’ve been building websites for years, and our experts stay up to date on the industry trends that can make your site more effective, like AI chatbots! Reach out to us today for a free consultation, and let’s get to work on making your website as effective as possible.
