Why Bots For Business?
The unstoppable commoditization of information technology has brought us Artificial Intelligence embodied in bots. This breakthrough…
The unstoppable commoditization of information technology has brought us Artificial Intelligence embodied in bots. This breakthrough happened thanks to reaching the critical mass of consumers. Over a billion people today are spending most of their online time conversing. And the number of people conversing online is increasing and is not showing any signs of slowing down.
This phenomenon has already produced a strong, irreversible habit in the end users’ behaviour. Generally speaking, we have reached a point of no return. People today expect to be able to get things done by messaging. And bots, powered by AI, fit into that agenda like a glove.
Hollywoodization Of Bots
OK, I made up the word ‘hollywoodization’. My intention is to illustrate how media portrays bots as being individual-centric. That portrayal is stemming from watching too many Hollywood sci fi movies about AI and bots. Which is to say, such strong bias in today’s media is missing the mark.
It’s almost unbelievable to see that no one ever talks about the role of bots in the business arena. There are hundreds upon hundreds of articles published about bots. All those articles only elaborate on how are bots useful to individual users. Not a single one discusses the role bots will play in the world of business.
It is high time we fill the gap and focus on the role bots will play for businesses and large organization. We need to disassociate ourselves from the imaginary world of sci fi and turn toward reality.
In Praise Of Automation
Information technology proposes to augment human capability for processing complex tasks. Another word for this augmentation is automation. Computers excel at automating tedious tasks. Furthermore, computers are also capable of augmenting reliability. We rely on computers to recall details which otherwise could be impossible to keep in mind.
Computers are also irreplaceable for handling the scaling challenges. Even if a common task is easy to do, it becomes unmanageable once the volume reaches high levels. And that’s the point when automation becomes priceless.
Bots are the latest phase in the evolution of business automation. Before bots, we had mainframe computers. Mainframe computers were expensive, brittle and couldn’t scale well. We had to replace them with networked computers. Client/server at first (fat client), then the web. The web was amazing at first. Unfortunately, the web failed to scale when mobile computing became mainstream. Smart phones increased scalability by bringing back the fat client model.
Smart phones fat client model has now reached the end of the road. Today we see a disjointed app store model. People are not interested in downloading apps anymore. This problem is coupled with the high cost associated with building the apps. Also, different clients need different implementation of the same app. All those factors caused smart phone apps to reach the saturation point.
Bots to the rescue! The latest trend in business automation is to offer a service that is ubiquitous. It does not need any special capabilities on the client. Clients do not have to download the service, install it, configure it, and keep upgrading it. Complete seamless automation.
In Praise Of Predictability
While individual users may prefer diversity and quirkiness, businesses abhor such traits. A chatty bot that is amusing and entertaining is an image taken straight from a Hollywood sci fi movie. But any serious businesses do not appreciate bots who present them in such an impish light.
As already mentioned, bots are great at offering full automation at a fraction of a cost. Automation means deterministic predictability. Business analysts design a bot to render services to a customer in a particular fashion. If such services are satisfactory, then any other customer receives identical treatment. There is no room for improvisation.
This value is not what bot builders today tout when dishing advice on how to design bots. The emphasis seems to be on bots who can learn from users. But businesses don’t seem too keen on letting their customers teach their automation agents. This is understandable. No one wants to risk their reputation and their profitability. Opening up to the free-range customers usually amounts to putting up the ‘kick me’ sign. It would be foolish of businesses to fall for such stunt.
Benefits And Challenges
Bots bring enormous benefits to the business. But with it, they also bring considerable challenges. We will continue describing both the benefits and the challenges in this publication. Bot builders need to realize that currently the most neglected party is the business. We need to resolve this lopsided situation.