Monday, October 23, 2017

Let's Build Some Chatbots!

We're hearing quite a bit of buzz about baking Artificial Intelligence ("AI") into enterprise applications.  AI represents a ton of potential for this space, not the least of which is the net evolution in user interface in the form of chatbots.  As I've shared previously in this space, I have a developing infatuation with chatbots.

Chatbots are pretty cool, especially when we're talking about voice-based chatbots.  The idea of getting things done by holding a dialogue with a virtual assistant has been a very appealing design pattern almost since the inception of computers themselves.  Captain Kirk talking to the ship's computer in Star Trek, Dr. David Bowman chatting it up with HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey, ... you get the idea, voice-based exchange has captured the public imagination for some time.

I'm having fun experimenting with chatbots and learning how they work. In fact, I wrote this entire blog post via voice-based user interfaces.  I used Siri on my MacBook Air to compose this post, then used a custom skill built for Amazon Echo to publish the post on this blog.  Yeah, I'm basking in the flow right now.

Think about interacting with a chatbot to add a new dependent to your health insurance.  Or making changes to your employer benefit package through a conversation with a virtual assistant.  Or kicking off an employee performance evaluation through a text-based conversation.

In my experimentation, I'm starting to collect HR and HCM-based use cases.  If you have an idea...some business process you'd like to execute or kick-off using a chatbot, I'd love to hear about it.  Share via the comments.  Maybe I can try building out your idea.

No comments: