The rise of messaging apps has led to strong interest in how brands and businesses can leverage them to engage with their customers. Bots using text as a medium has piqued the interest of developers and consumers alike. Breakthroughs in AI have only fuelled great expectations on user experience of such bots. We will explore the rationale for chatbots, what a chatbot can and cannot do, how chatbots interface with users, technology challenges in building chatbots, understanding user context, handling and nurturing user trust.

1. Cracking
the
Chat
bot
Code
Elvis
D’Souza
Product
Engineer
Sensy
Remote

2. Cracking
the
Chat
bot
Code
Elvis
D’Souza
Product
Engineer
Sensy
Remote

3. Cracking
the
Chat
bot
Code
Elvis
D’Souza
Product
Engineer
Sensy
Remote

5. IVR/USSD

6. The
world
of
Apps
• App
download
is
expensive
• Poor
discovery
on
app
stores
• Apps
compete
with
photos
for
space
on
the
phone
• Apps
make
you
sign-­‐up,
use
a
lot
of
data,
send
irrelevant
notifications,
hog
memory

7. CHAT
BOTS
-­‐
WHAT,
WHY,
HOW

8. Chat
Bots
• To-­‐and-­‐fro
interaction
between
the
user
and
a
system
• The
host
is
usually
a
messaging
app.
Familiar
UI
• Primary
input
is
using
text,
like
in
messaging
apps
• Are
not
a
direct
replacement
for
apps,
like
apps
vs
websites

9. Arrange
Meetings
Authenticate
Identity
Check-­‐in
to
a
flight
Pay
for
lunches
HISTORY
-­‐
WeChat
🍲
"

10. Why
platforms?
• Easy
to
install
from
a
“bot
store”,
lesser
friction
during
first-­‐use
• One
(messaging?)
app
to
rule
them
all,
less
clutter
on
the
phone’s
home
screen
• Share
auth,
social
graph
&
payments
with
bots
easily

11. Conversational
UI?
• Natural
language
is
good,
but
typing
on
mobile
remains
hard!
• Required
AI
systems
are
not
production
ready
yet
• Instant
gratification
demands
intents
be
satisfied
with
fewer
taps
• UI
should
reduce
cognitive
load
and
offer
functionality/choices
at
the
same
time

12. BOTS
IN
THE
WILD

13. Poncho
-­‐
The
Weather
Bot

14. Space
Adventure
-­‐
Text
Game

15. TARS

16. Riffsy
-­‐
The
GIF
bot
on
Kik

17. QUALITIES
OF
CHAT
BOTS

18. The
bot
introduces
its
offerings
Convenient
one-­‐tap
interaction
Surfaces
content
via
“cards”
interface

19. Handy
options
on
what
to
do
next
Rich
Card
UI,
bots
can
do
more
than
text
Allows
for
casual
conversation

20. Feedback
and
compliments
Deeper
engagement
with
content
Engages
in
pleasantry

21. MY
EXPERIENCE
BUILDING
A
BOT

22. Sensy
Mobile
App
• “Whats
running
on
TV
right
now?”
• Highly
visual
interface
• Grids
of
programs
• Tap
to
switch
channel
or
learn
more
about
a
show
• Handy
channel
number
reference
for
faster
switching

23. Sensy
Mobile
App
• Powerful
Search
• “English
Comedy”
• “Kannada
Drama”
• “Akshay
Kumar
movie”
• “Animated
movies”
• “Star
Suvarna”
• “This
Weekend”
—
Filters

24. Sensy
Bot
-­‐
Why?
• Expose
a
conversational
interface
to
Search
• Elicit
Intent
via
Natural
Language
• An
experiment
• Fun
to
build
one!

25. Sensy
Bot
v1
• Define
the
domain
• Introduce
yourselves
• Convey
what
your
bot
does
• Offer
hints
on
how
to
proceed
• Give
examples Thanks!
I'd
like
to
watch
an
english
comedy
movie.
Do
you
have
something
for
me?
Hello!
My
name
is
Sensy.
Let
me
help
you
find
something
to
watch
on
TV

26. Sensy
Bot
v1
• Leverage
structured
information
• Identify
Entities
related
to
your
use
case
• “English”
—
Language
• “Comedy”
—
Genre
• “Movie”
—
Show
Type
I'd
like
to
watch
an
english
comedy
movie.
Do
you
have
something
for
me?
Here
are
English
Comedy
Movies
running
right
now

27. Sensy
Bot
v1
• Offer
keywords
to
modify
context
• Time
—
“this
weekend”
• History
—
“on
my
favourite
channel”
• Filters
—
“I
have
20
minutes
of
free
time”
I'd
like
to
watch
an
english
comedy
movie
this
weekend.
Do
you
have
something
for
me?
Here
are
English
Comedy
Movies
running
this
weekend

28. Sensy
Bot
v1
• Deliver
content
using
Cards
UI
• Use
images,
audio
and
video
to
deliver
content
• Enable
interaction
with
options
or
links
english
comedy
movie.
Do
you
have
something
for
me?
Here
are
English
Comedy
Movies
running
right
now

29. Learnings
• Closed
domain
sets
expectations
• Examples
provide
comfort
to
the
user
• Treating
this
as
a
search
problem
helped
get
the
v1
within
hours
• Input
from
the
user
helped
prioritize
how
a
v2
should
be
• Pleasantries
not
to
be
ignored
• Account
for
playful
users
I'd
like
to
watch
an
english
comedy
movie
this
weekend.
Do
you
have
something
for
me?
Here
are
English
Comedy
Movies
running
this
weekend

30. BUILDING
BOTS

31. Form
Filling
Bots
• Guided
form
flows
• Can
branch
depending
on
user
input
• Alternative
to
Customer
support
forms

32. WeChat/Kik
Style
• Modified
keyboard
to
guide
conversation
• Entertainment,
lifestyle
and
gaming
use
cases
• A
new,
fun
way
for
brands
to
interact
with
their
users
• New
age
IRC-­‐style
commands/IVR
systems

33. Bot
Frameworks
• Write
once
for
many
platforms
• Bot
Builders
• Customer
care
bots
• Form
filling
• Plug-­‐and-­‐play
AI
• Microsoft
Bot
Framework
• Facebook
Bot
Engine
(Wit.ai)
• API.ai

34. The
first
message
• Helps
set
the
domain
for
interaction.
Open
domain
bots
are
hard
• Users
are
often
unsure
of
the
“right”
way
to
talk
to
the
bot

37. The
first
message
Hello!
I’m
a
mobile
recharge
bot.
Are
you
looking
to
recharge
talk
time
or
data?
Welcome
to
Pizza
station.
Would
you
like
to
order
a
Pizza?
Let
me
help
you
fi
something
to
eat.
What
are
you
in
th
mood
for?
Hi,
Are
you
looking
for
help
regarding
a
recent
order?
Are
you
up
for
a
game
of
Tic-­‐Tac-­‐Toe?
Good
Morning,
Elv
Here
are
5
stories
trending
on
News
Now,
today

38. Assisting
Input
• Use
custom
keyboards
on
mobile
• Provide
hints
and
examples,
identify
when
the
user
is
stuck
• Minimize
taps
required
to
get
things
done
• Allow
for
starting
over
in
guided
flows

39. Nurturing
Trust
• Tell
the
user
how
you
interpret
their
queries
• Confirm
before
taking
irreversible
actions
• Sprinkle
feedback
and
compliments
• Engage
in
chatter,
handle
insults
with
care,
know
when
to
escalate

40. Follow
Up
• “Push”
messages
to
the
user
—
Start
a
new
conversation
or
continue
an
old
one
• Use
this
for
delivering
updates,
like
change
in
flight
status
or
new
product
being
available
in
store

41. BOTS
OF
THE
FUTURE

42. AI
Bots
• They
may
be
open
domain,
or
may
support
a
plethora
of
use-­‐cases
through
a
natural
language
interface
• They
have
excellent
intent
harvesting
abilities,
and
enhanced
ability
to
know
when
not
doing
well
Hello
Genie,
Please
open
the
front
door
for
Jake,
will
you?
Sure
thing!
I
shall
have
the
front
door
open
for
Jake
Jake
is
in!
I
have
locked
the
front
door

43. AI
Bots
-­‐
Language
• They
can
understand
complex
constructs
&
respond
in
natural
language
• Can
understand
nuances
in
language,
handle
disambiguation
and
changes
in
linguistic
context
Almost
every?
Good
Morning!
Netflix
is
suddenly
available
in
almost
every
country
in
the
world!
Yeah!
Its
still
not
available
in
China,
North
Korea
and
Syria.
CEO
Reed
hastings
said
it
could
take

44. AI
Bots
-­‐
Context
• Free
form
input
may
have
multiple
questions,
ambiguity,
intent-­‐switching,
references
to
temporal
events
• Bots
need
to
understand
and
remember
the
user,
their
preferences.
• They
should
not
ask
questions
they
should
know
the
answers
for
• They
need
to
be
on
top
of
temporal
and
physical
context
Neat!
Whats
the
weather
like,
today?
Slight
drizzle
expected
in
the
evening
at
Bangalore.
How
are
things
at
Jake’s
place
Its
foggy
&
26
degrees
in
Mumbai

45. AI
Bots
-­‐
Deep
Learning
• Rule/template
based
systems
don’t
scale.
Generative
models
will
fare
better
• Training
is
hard
due
to
lack
of
relevant
data
• Handling
context
&
maintaining
a
coherent
personality
is
a
challenge
Neat!
Whats
the
status
of
my
order?
Order
51
will
reach
you
by
6PM
today
Should
I
be
expecting
a
delivery
today?
Order
51
is
being
prepared
at
the
Mumbai
Hub

46. References
❖ Build
Bots
• Microsoft
Bot
Framework
• Pandora
Bots
• Chatfuel
• Botkit
• API.ai
• wit.ai
❖ Reading
• Checking
In
On
Chat
Bots
• Bots
won't
replace
apps
• Deep
Learning
for
Chatbots
• Botday

47. Questions
TRY
THE
BOT
www.sensyremote.com/bot
Elvis
D’Souza
·∙
me@elvis.co.in
sensyremote.com
We
are
Hiring!