Messenger setting the new direction for using Bots

Messenger setting the new direction for using Bots

Have you noticed the Chatbots that appear in your Messenger, when you want to send a message to a friend? With Artificial Intelligence becoming more and more part of our daily lives, Facebook has been experimenting with the use of Chatbots. 


 

For those of you, who are not familiar with the concept, Chatbots are computer programs that mimic a conversation with people using artificial intelligence. They can transform the way you interact with the internet from a series of self-initiated tasks to a quasi-conversation. More than 34,000 bots have been built since Facebook Messenger opened its platform to bot developers back in April. Thousands more are probably being designed by inspired teams across the globe as I write these lines.

 

While some companies like Poncho, SwellVisabot brought great value to consumers using the new technology, it's true that some others simply used it to automate their customer service, de-humanizing the experience, treating you like a robot. 

 

So what's the case with Facebook? When the platform was opened to Chatbots last year, consumers reported not liking to deal with Chatbots, trying to pretend to be a human discussion partner. So David Marcus, the Head of Messenger, came up with a brilliant new strategy: To use the new technology more as 'Information Bots' instead of Chatbots.

 

Since these group bots won’t be the sole conversation partner, there will be less pressure on them to act human, and more opportunity for them to service a specific utility. These group bots can keep users informed about real-time news such as a sports game’s progress, e-commerce deliveries and more.

 

For example, a Messenger group of football fans could add a sports bot to their thread, where it could report score changes, big plays and other news from the game. An e-commerce group bot could keep a group of coworkers informed about the status of their lunch delivery, letting them know that the order is being prepared and when it arrives.


While I was typing this article, David Marcus just announced having added new features to Messenger's M. It will now make automated suggestions based on your chat intent such as:

➡ Payments: Suggesting sending or requesting payment, when appropriate.

➡ Polls: Suggesting and automating the creation of a quick poll, when your friends can't decide on what to do, when you get together.

➡ Reminders: Automatically suggesting making plans, when you want to remember to call someone or to do something.

➡ Rides: When you're ready to go somewhere, M will recommend requesting an Uber or Lyft.

➡ Location sharing: When you want to get together, M will recommend sharing your location with the new live location sharing feature.

Can't wait to the detailed announcements at Facebook’s big yearly F8 development conference!

How are you planning to use Bots in your business? 

#messenger #digitalstrategy #socialmediastrategy #bots #artificialintelligence #AI

Alex Yong

Retired reporter, trend watcher, native New Yorker, Local Guide in Google's Local Guides program

6y

General reminders and ride reminders would help me a lot I think. Thank you

To view or add a comment, sign in

Insights from the community

Explore topics