CIOInsider India Magazine

When the food we order online exceeds delivery time, we place our queries on the app’s chat to know why the food hasn't been delivered. Then the chatbot does its best at answering our queries and resolving the matter before we switch to the phone call option.

Conversational AI has long transitioned past the hype stage and became a valuable technology for businesses, ranging from voice assistants like Siri or Alexa to intelligent chatbots in customer service. Currently, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, a chatbot, is all talk on the internet due to its intuitive conversational style.

Devised as a chatbot, the model is based on GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) architecture. This architecture enables a deep learning model that infuses the program with large chunks of text data which helps the chatbot learn the way of the human language. Be it finding trending cars, ice-cream parlours or even asking it to compose poetry, the chatbot has it all, except that its information feed is only as old as 2021.

Some unique capabilities the chatbot can display is that the user can hurl a number of questions to it and the chatbot still answers with precise information instantly. It can generate a large word count of text to answer a query thoroughly. Thanks to its GPT-based training, the chatbot is able to understand what the questions mean even when they are typed in simple language. In no time, the chatbot begins to understand its human user better by recalling its previous prompts and almost injects a sense of familiarity when conversing with it.

At times, the chatbot’s answers tend to appear incorrect, making our eyebrows raise, questioning its reliability. But questions about politics are strictly forbidden, as it does not entertain political activism.

Whether ChatGPT could overtake Alexa, Siri or any existing or emerging chatbots out there. But we do know for a fact that competition in this area is seeping through and it's only a matter of time you see your colleague chatting with an AI more, than they do with their fellow colleagues. What are the developments trending thus far?

Rise in New Entrants
AI chatbots tailored to certain industries are projected to become more common in the near future. The chatbot market is rapidly expanding, and there are more new entrants. Businesses are now looking for chatbot companies that offer solutions tailored to their sectors when selecting a supplier.

One industry where organizations may consider the specialized expertise and understanding of an AI chatbot provider is healthcare. For example, during the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic, Haptik, an independent conversational AI platform, created the MyGovCorona Helpdesk chatbot for the Indian government to assist individuals with COVID-19-related questions.

Improving Business Processes
What most companies have noticed is that customers are increasingly prefering conversational commerce since it allows them to shop whenever it is convenient for them. In fact, it is believed that chatbots could help businesses improve their brand reputation and of course, deliver better customer service.

Additionally, chatbots happen to fuel a variety of corporate functions including lead generation, sales, customer service, marketing engagement, and brand awareness. Chatbots are becoming a terrific alternative for businesses as they become smarter through the use of personalized experiences. A chatbot, for example, may contain a potential customer's name or a follow-up email with recommended material based on previous transactions.

Voice Assistance
Voice-enabled assistants are revolutionizing how people communicate. These technologies are now being used by chatbots, indicating potential to improve user experience and consumer loyalty in the long run. Customers' global use of voice assistants will reach eight billion by 2023, according to Juniper Research.

Since chatbots can understand and speak human language, voice interactions have had a big impact on how customers feel connected to organizations. Furthermore, with the growing popularity of voice shopping and voice search, voice-powered chatbots will surely become a must-have for businesses. Yellow AI, for example, has announced the debut of Voice 2.0, with the goal of making voice technology more intuitive.

Conversational AI for the Metaverse
Conversational AI would be essential to the Metaverse's success. AI chatbots will be required for each virtual area to assist and advise users at every level in order to provide an immersive experience. Most global CEOs believe the Metaverse will benefit their businesses, and brands are already lined up to ride its wave. Interactions in any virtual area, whether it's a post office, bank, or fast food restaurant, will take place between a human-controlled avatar and a chatbot. As a result, in order to complete their work, these avatars must have an effective means of communication.

Retailers will be able to deliver better customer service as a result of these advancements, and they may even be able to provide loyal customers with an even more immersive experience. Meta is heavily investing in building powerful conversational AI capabilities in order to humanize each component and enable natural discussions in a variety of scenarios.

Chatbots to Automate Payments
Modern organizations can use a chatbot with data security and information protection in conjunction with payment infrastructure to automate easy payments via live chat or Facebook Messenger apps. This rapid payment method gives enough data for chatbots to facilitate conversation-driven cross-selling and upselling. Chatbots, on the other hand, can provide updates on a user's transaction data, expense records, payment confirmation, and so on, resulting in a high level of client retention.

The chatbot industry is expanding due to increased demand for messaging apps and the increasing usage of consumer analytics by various organizations worldwide. To meet client and market demands, vendors around the world are integrating technologies such as AI and NLP into their products.

The global chatbot market is highly competitive, owing to the presence of many small and large players. The market is concentrated with the key players adopting strategies, such as product innovation, to stay ahead of the competition. Some of the players in the market are IBM Corporation,eGain Corporation, Nuance Communications, Creative Virtual Ltd, and Avaamo Inc., among others.