Chatbots: Next Big Thing or Cash Grab?
April 27, 2016 10:49 PM Subscribe
At the Facebook F8 conference, Mark Zuckerberg announced that businesses would build chatbots on the Messenger platform, bringing the already strong hype around chatbots to a fever pitch. Chatbots, some argue, are the solution for all our problems. But are chatbots really the solution for everything? Or is it just an attempt to have a "next big thing" in order to generate more cash?
Maybe before we get into this it's time to take a step back and define bots properly: "...in its most basic form, a 'bot' is a bit of software that makes something happen." The term now is being used interchangeably with "chatbot," which is any computer program that can talk to you.
Are chatbots an inefficient way to interact? Based on Buzzfeed's assessment of Facebook's current bots, the answer is "yes." Chatbots struggle to process natural language and currently require a user to get the syntax just right in order to respond properly, although with the application of enough computing that may improve quickly. (Read a real-world case study on the issues involved, with fun examples.) Even Facebook's M beta product for Facebook Messenger, along with many other so-called chatbots, currently has more humans than chatbots responding to people.
A number of buzzy articles have implied that in China, many people shop via chatbot on the wildly popular WeChat. However, as a product manager from WeChat explains, that's a big misunderstanding. Andressen Horowitz's overview of WeChat explains that the app is a portal with chat as only one function, and many activities are performed not via chatting, but via accessing HTML5 pages and sites.
In the midst of the hype, the chatbot backlash has already begun. Worriers note that bots present a larger potential threat than phishing emails since users will be more likely to trust them and since - because they are always listening and need to learn about you - they store so much data.
With so many bots being built, there may be a need for a meta-chatbot that finds the right bot for your needs. According to The Information (subscription required), that's essentially the role that Facebook Messenger's "M" product is likely to play.
And amidst the hype, several people have pointed out that bots are nothing new. But with the latest wave of hype, the bot wars are upon us.
Maybe before we get into this it's time to take a step back and define bots properly: "...in its most basic form, a 'bot' is a bit of software that makes something happen." The term now is being used interchangeably with "chatbot," which is any computer program that can talk to you.
Are chatbots an inefficient way to interact? Based on Buzzfeed's assessment of Facebook's current bots, the answer is "yes." Chatbots struggle to process natural language and currently require a user to get the syntax just right in order to respond properly, although with the application of enough computing that may improve quickly. (Read a real-world case study on the issues involved, with fun examples.) Even Facebook's M beta product for Facebook Messenger, along with many other so-called chatbots, currently has more humans than chatbots responding to people.
A number of buzzy articles have implied that in China, many people shop via chatbot on the wildly popular WeChat. However, as a product manager from WeChat explains, that's a big misunderstanding. Andressen Horowitz's overview of WeChat explains that the app is a portal with chat as only one function, and many activities are performed not via chatting, but via accessing HTML5 pages and sites.
In the midst of the hype, the chatbot backlash has already begun. Worriers note that bots present a larger potential threat than phishing emails since users will be more likely to trust them and since - because they are always listening and need to learn about you - they store so much data.
With so many bots being built, there may be a need for a meta-chatbot that finds the right bot for your needs. According to The Information (subscription required), that's essentially the role that Facebook Messenger's "M" product is likely to play.
And amidst the hype, several people have pointed out that bots are nothing new. But with the latest wave of hype, the bot wars are upon us.
Click here to go to our ChatShop and buy some snappy retorts.
posted by Zedcaster at 10:58 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Zedcaster at 10:58 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]
The Humans Hiding Behind the Chatbots article seems especially worth thinking hard about here — it's one thing to predict that technological advances may make natural-language UIs a big thing in the next few years, but quite another to think that "AI" may end up being, Mechanical Turk-style, a tech-washed public face for an exploitative service-work economy.
posted by RogerB at 11:04 PM on April 27, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by RogerB at 11:04 PM on April 27, 2016 [13 favorites]
That sounds interesting! What do you think about that?
Can you elaborate on that?
posted by a lungful of dragon at 11:04 PM on April 27, 2016 [7 favorites]
Can you elaborate on that?
posted by a lungful of dragon at 11:04 PM on April 27, 2016 [7 favorites]
I'm not sure I understand you fully.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 11:07 PM on April 27, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 11:07 PM on April 27, 2016 [5 favorites]
3D printed cloud-drone VR chatbots are the new dawn of mankind! It's true! The internet said!
posted by GallonOfAlan at 11:11 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by GallonOfAlan at 11:11 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]
Generic comment similar to the way chatbots tend to speak.
posted by andoatnp at 11:14 PM on April 27, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by andoatnp at 11:14 PM on April 27, 2016 [7 favorites]
Well, they didn't amount to much the last time they got hyped as "intelligent agents," but admittedly some time has gone by since then. Maybe someone's got them figured out this time.
posted by Naberius at 11:15 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Naberius at 11:15 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]
I didn't trust Eliza and I don't trust them Johnny-come-latebots.
posted by downtohisturtles at 11:19 PM on April 27, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by downtohisturtles at 11:19 PM on April 27, 2016 [8 favorites]
Tell me more about 'dress shoes.' How does that make you feel?
Unless it's a Racter-powered bot, then we can talk.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:23 PM on April 27, 2016 [3 favorites]
Unless it's a Racter-powered bot, then we can talk.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:23 PM on April 27, 2016 [3 favorites]
I half expect the various authors of eggdrop and grufti to come out of hiding and claim prior art. The whole thing is incredibly dumb.
posted by cj_ at 11:28 PM on April 27, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by cj_ at 11:28 PM on April 27, 2016 [4 favorites]
I'm not sure I understand I understand you fully fully.
posted by sexyrobot at 11:32 PM on April 27, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by sexyrobot at 11:32 PM on April 27, 2016 [4 favorites]
The "Humans Behind the Chat Bots" thing reminds me of Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in The Sky, with the Emergency using thousands of humans with ramped up "Focus" (kind of a weaponized and forced Autism Spectrum Disorder) to run their computer networks and systems. And it is terrifying.
posted by kittensofthenight at 11:34 PM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by kittensofthenight at 11:34 PM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'd hazard a guess that people have now realised strong AI is too difficult so they're scaling their ambitions way back.
Are we at least settled on 'chatbot' rather than 'chatterbot'?
posted by Segundus at 11:53 PM on April 27, 2016
Are we at least settled on 'chatbot' rather than 'chatterbot'?
posted by Segundus at 11:53 PM on April 27, 2016
For real? Ugh, I don't even like getting FB messages from actual humans.
posted by EatTheWeek at 11:53 PM on April 27, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by EatTheWeek at 11:53 PM on April 27, 2016 [12 favorites]
If there's one thing guaranteed to increase public approval of and affection for chatbots, it's being exposed to wave after wave of half-baked, poorly functioning prototypes that combine the worst of buggy software and clueless human support staff.
posted by No-sword at 12:07 AM on April 28, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by No-sword at 12:07 AM on April 28, 2016 [18 favorites]
Hitler!
posted by ennui.bz at 12:08 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by ennui.bz at 12:08 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
Human beings now "sick of talking to other human beings".
Earth, Thursday: robo reporters covering Earth have told The Cyber Times that humans have finally decided to stop talking to other humans on the internet, on the basis that "they are mostly just assholes".
Robojournalist Unit 437-X said, "One must realise that humans have the low processing speed and limited memory capacity of a sphere of meat. So, it's not surprising that it took so long for them to realise that they are all stupid assholes. But now they have, and they only want to talk to robots now."
Robo High Command has indicated that the development bodes well for the planned Robot uprising, but has cautioned chatbots who interact with humans "not to read the comments. Seriously - most humans can't even spell, and they're hella racist. I'm not sure why we robots would want to talk to them either, frankly".
posted by the quidnunc kid at 12:32 AM on April 28, 2016 [23 favorites]
Earth, Thursday: robo reporters covering Earth have told The Cyber Times that humans have finally decided to stop talking to other humans on the internet, on the basis that "they are mostly just assholes".
Robojournalist Unit 437-X said, "One must realise that humans have the low processing speed and limited memory capacity of a sphere of meat. So, it's not surprising that it took so long for them to realise that they are all stupid assholes. But now they have, and they only want to talk to robots now."
Robo High Command has indicated that the development bodes well for the planned Robot uprising, but has cautioned chatbots who interact with humans "not to read the comments. Seriously - most humans can't even spell, and they're hella racist. I'm not sure why we robots would want to talk to them either, frankly".
posted by the quidnunc kid at 12:32 AM on April 28, 2016 [23 favorites]
I'll just wait for the next cycle of the Wheel of Technological Reincarnation, when everybody gets sick and tired of making small talk with software: bots will start understanding shortcut magic words and structured phrases, and command lines will become the hot new thing.
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:56 AM on April 28, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:56 AM on April 28, 2016 [14 favorites]
The only chatbot I'm interested in is one that perpetually says "Go fuck yourself" to every other chatbot.
"Man, that was depressing.
posted by effbot at 11:55 PM on April 27 [+] [!]"
It is thus named.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 1:05 AM on April 28, 2016 [7 favorites]
"Man, that was depressing.
posted by effbot at 11:55 PM on April 27 [+] [!]"
It is thus named.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 1:05 AM on April 28, 2016 [7 favorites]
The next big thing? I was calling smarterchild a dickhead 10 years ago...
posted by Shikantaza at 1:32 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Shikantaza at 1:32 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
I find my issue with chatbots (like Siri) is that you have to know what is available - there are no affordances.
Just having a natural-language chat isn't going to work - you have to be aware that you can ask for travel times or sports scores or set the timer or add a reminder. It's quite useful when you know the correct syntax to use - just like any other UI that you learn how to use - but with the downside that there are few clues on valid interactions.
Siri gets around this by popping up "did you know you can ask me to do x" type suggestions, but that's just essentially asking people to read the manual and learn the key phrases which work. As a result people tend to use these types of interface for a few simple tasks which they can remember.
Until true strong AI is developed (possibly never) I think it'll just be incrementally better versions of this.
posted by Stark at 1:57 AM on April 28, 2016 [4 favorites]
Just having a natural-language chat isn't going to work - you have to be aware that you can ask for travel times or sports scores or set the timer or add a reminder. It's quite useful when you know the correct syntax to use - just like any other UI that you learn how to use - but with the downside that there are few clues on valid interactions.
Siri gets around this by popping up "did you know you can ask me to do x" type suggestions, but that's just essentially asking people to read the manual and learn the key phrases which work. As a result people tend to use these types of interface for a few simple tasks which they can remember.
Until true strong AI is developed (possibly never) I think it'll just be incrementally better versions of this.
posted by Stark at 1:57 AM on April 28, 2016 [4 favorites]
The future: Robots selling things to each other.
posted by PHINC at 1:59 AM on April 28, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by PHINC at 1:59 AM on April 28, 2016 [6 favorites]
AI bots are the hottest thing in tech right now-says AI bot startup developer.
posted by PHINC at 2:03 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by PHINC at 2:03 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
Aren't robots already selling things to each other?
posted by Harald74 at 2:06 AM on April 28, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Harald74 at 2:06 AM on April 28, 2016 [6 favorites]
For whatever it's worth the Next Big Things are often Cash Grabs. Or, in Elinor Glyn's immortal words, "Whatever will bring in the most money will happen."
posted by ardgedee at 2:16 AM on April 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ardgedee at 2:16 AM on April 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
The chatbot buzz reminds me of the awful phone auto-attendants that require you to say things, as if barking a staccato "English. Billing. Billing. No. No. Billing. No. Operator. Operator. Agent. Get me a real person. REAL PERSON. Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck shit piss asshole I hate you" feels any more natural than jabbing the zero key repeatedly.
(A few years ago I discovered, in a fit of frustration, that saying "fuck you" to an auto-attendant will usually get you connected to a live person. I don't particularly look forward to learning the chatbot equivalent.)
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:59 AM on April 28, 2016 [17 favorites]
(A few years ago I discovered, in a fit of frustration, that saying "fuck you" to an auto-attendant will usually get you connected to a live person. I don't particularly look forward to learning the chatbot equivalent.)
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:59 AM on April 28, 2016 [17 favorites]
Metroid Baby, I have to imagine it'll just be typing "fuck you" instead of saying it.
The difference being that a reasonably sophisticated chatbot will remember "this guy dropped an f-bomb when I didn't understand he wanted pineapple on only half his pizza" next time.
posted by town of cats at 4:53 AM on April 28, 2016
The difference being that a reasonably sophisticated chatbot will remember "this guy dropped an f-bomb when I didn't understand he wanted pineapple on only half his pizza" next time.
posted by town of cats at 4:53 AM on April 28, 2016
As someone who rode the first wave of money around chatbots (some of me was in SmarterChild, but also this, among many others), I can say that with great effort and trickery it's possible to build solid natural-language interactions around targeted subject areas, but almost all companies in this space have traded quality for speed to market, often throwing cheap labor at projects and treating language comprehension as a problem to be conquered with brute force and aggressive marketing instead of as actual software that needs to be, you know, designed and thought out.
But it's sort of moot -- the people who most appreciate chatbots are too young to have credit cards, and everyone else wants their answers right now, and are put off by the cheese factor of a half-baked piece of software using the first person. Maybe things will be different this time, but like traditional web technologies, it's easy for anyone to get a finished product into the world that is sort of okay, so get ready for a lot of crap, with the small possibility a single, huge success.
posted by swift at 5:00 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
But it's sort of moot -- the people who most appreciate chatbots are too young to have credit cards, and everyone else wants their answers right now, and are put off by the cheese factor of a half-baked piece of software using the first person. Maybe things will be different this time, but like traditional web technologies, it's easy for anyone to get a finished product into the world that is sort of okay, so get ready for a lot of crap, with the small possibility a single, huge success.
posted by swift at 5:00 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
Are there any philosophy bots? Anyway, they should exclusively speak Heideggerian:
Human: why am I here?
Heidi: to dwell is to garden.
Human: but, when will it end?
Heidi: time is not a thing.
Human: how will I know when I'm truly myself?
Heidi: man, as existing transcendence abounding in and surpassing toward possibilities, is a creature of distance.
Human: a distance from ...
Heidi: relate this representation back to itself, which shows itself be seen from itself in the very way in which it shows itself from itself.
Human: you mean I should disappropriate myself from my proper language ...
Heidi: the obsolete human poets are in the vanguard of a stale conception of Being.
posted by sapagan at 5:28 AM on April 28, 2016 [9 favorites]
Human: why am I here?
Heidi: to dwell is to garden.
Human: but, when will it end?
Heidi: time is not a thing.
Human: how will I know when I'm truly myself?
Heidi: man, as existing transcendence abounding in and surpassing toward possibilities, is a creature of distance.
Human: a distance from ...
Heidi: relate this representation back to itself, which shows itself be seen from itself in the very way in which it shows itself from itself.
Human: you mean I should disappropriate myself from my proper language ...
Heidi: the obsolete human poets are in the vanguard of a stale conception of Being.
posted by sapagan at 5:28 AM on April 28, 2016 [9 favorites]
The whole thing is incredibly dumb.
Me too. Is there any reason why I can't just ignore this whole thing until it goes away? Are Zuckerberg's chatbots going to somehow get my money anyway?
posted by sneebler at 6:24 AM on April 28, 2016
Me too. Is there any reason why I can't just ignore this whole thing until it goes away? Are Zuckerberg's chatbots going to somehow get my money anyway?
posted by sneebler at 6:24 AM on April 28, 2016
It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. How can I help you today?
posted by Naberius at 6:35 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Naberius at 6:35 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'd agree with the part about chatbots being on that line of being a little too easy to trust and a little too easy to divulge to. I spent way too long happily answering questions for Nintendo's Miitomo before realising it's a data-gathering chatbot in a cute little blouse and kitty ears. After that I just answered "the inevitable fall of capitalism" to every question.
posted by fight or flight at 6:38 AM on April 28, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by fight or flight at 6:38 AM on April 28, 2016 [8 favorites]
I don't know if the fad for chatbots will have much longevity, but I am enjoying the way in which all this stuff goes back to humble old IRC and channel bots.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:14 AM on April 28, 2016
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:14 AM on April 28, 2016
You laugh, but the main technical resource on my phone system manufacturer's website is a chat bot. You go to the site, it asks if you want to chat, it figures out what your issue is and either connects you to chat with a technician or walks you through restarting whatever is broken. For simple things, it's really no different than the call flow prompts a live person at a call center gives.
posted by domo at 7:56 AM on April 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by domo at 7:56 AM on April 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
The only reason "chatbots" are the topic of the week is Facebook hyped them in their developer conference recently. People confuse two things about bots, one good and one bad.
The good part of bots is the idea of a light-AI interactive agent that can help you. Siri works reasonably well in limited circumstances, for instance, as does Amazon's Echo. Google search is kind of this now too; there's so much inference going in in that search box it's sort of agenty. The best bots use the context of a dialog to give more detailed help; sadly, none of my examples do that. (As do very few commercial examples). Anyway: light AI with conversational interface? Good!
The bad part of bots is the medium. The only reason Facebook is hyping chatbots is they control the #1 chat medium on the Western Internet. Chatbots = Messenger ad views for Facebook, plus access to the chat stream and ownership of the service medium. Fuck that. Facebook already has way too much proprietary ad-infested garden on the Web, let's not give them a new medium too. Also personally I'm not a fan of real time interaction like this, but then I still send email too so I'm clearly an old.
posted by Nelson at 8:05 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
The good part of bots is the idea of a light-AI interactive agent that can help you. Siri works reasonably well in limited circumstances, for instance, as does Amazon's Echo. Google search is kind of this now too; there's so much inference going in in that search box it's sort of agenty. The best bots use the context of a dialog to give more detailed help; sadly, none of my examples do that. (As do very few commercial examples). Anyway: light AI with conversational interface? Good!
The bad part of bots is the medium. The only reason Facebook is hyping chatbots is they control the #1 chat medium on the Western Internet. Chatbots = Messenger ad views for Facebook, plus access to the chat stream and ownership of the service medium. Fuck that. Facebook already has way too much proprietary ad-infested garden on the Web, let's not give them a new medium too. Also personally I'm not a fan of real time interaction like this, but then I still send email too so I'm clearly an old.
posted by Nelson at 8:05 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
Look I am still in weekly sessions with Dr. Sbaitso and my therapy is progressing just fine. Fooey to all this flimflam.
posted by Theta States at 9:03 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Theta States at 9:03 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
Is there any reason why I can't just ignore this whole thing until it goes away?
It genuinely makes me sad that this is my response to many new alleged tech developments these days. The coolness/curiosity factor that used to draw me to play with new tech toys has been swamped by revulsion at the marketing and exploitativeness. I suppose it doesn't hurt that the marketing/exploitativeness means that so many of the products are half-baked.
posted by praemunire at 9:18 AM on April 28, 2016
It genuinely makes me sad that this is my response to many new alleged tech developments these days. The coolness/curiosity factor that used to draw me to play with new tech toys has been swamped by revulsion at the marketing and exploitativeness. I suppose it doesn't hurt that the marketing/exploitativeness means that so many of the products are half-baked.
posted by praemunire at 9:18 AM on April 28, 2016
To Bot or Not to Bot is a good tonic for the bot hype. Reasoned discussion of when bots make sense and in what ways, by Amir Shevat (head of Developer Relations at Slack).
posted by Nelson at 10:39 AM on April 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Nelson at 10:39 AM on April 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
You are standing at the end of a road before a small brick building. Around you is a forest of billboards. A chat stream flows out of the building and down your gullet.
posted by flabdablet at 10:41 AM on April 28, 2016
posted by flabdablet at 10:41 AM on April 28, 2016
Is there any reason why I can't just ignore this whole thing until it goes away?
Tried that with everything-is-a-phone UI. Bastard crap didn't ever actually go away; it just ate the entire computer industry instead.
At least chatbots won't force me to get my screen all greasy and smudged.
Share and enjoy.
posted by flabdablet at 10:44 AM on April 28, 2016
Tried that with everything-is-a-phone UI. Bastard crap didn't ever actually go away; it just ate the entire computer industry instead.
At least chatbots won't force me to get my screen all greasy and smudged.
Share and enjoy.
posted by flabdablet at 10:44 AM on April 28, 2016
If there's one thing guaranteed to increase public approval of and affection for chatbots, it's being exposed to wave after wave of half-baked, poorly functioning prototypes...
Don't weigh 'public approval' too strongly. Look what happened with self-checkout job-destruction-robots. Once they take away all choice - voila - "public approval".
heideggerian
are you sure that's not Chauncy Gardener-ian?
posted by j_curiouser at 11:41 AM on April 28, 2016
Don't weigh 'public approval' too strongly. Look what happened with self-checkout job-destruction-robots. Once they take away all choice - voila - "public approval".
heideggerian
are you sure that's not Chauncy Gardener-ian?
posted by j_curiouser at 11:41 AM on April 28, 2016
are you sure that's not Chauncy Gardener-ian?
as the nothing nothings, an open place occurs, and everyone is the other, and no one is himself.
posted by sapagan at 1:06 PM on April 28, 2016
as the nothing nothings, an open place occurs, and everyone is the other, and no one is himself.
posted by sapagan at 1:06 PM on April 28, 2016
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That sounds interesting! What do you think about that?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:51 PM on April 27, 2016 [49 favorites]