Bots are third-party applications that run inside Telegram and allow users to interact through messages and commands. To create a bot, users talk to BotFather to get an API token. Bots differ from humans in that they have no online status, limited storage, can't initiate conversations, have usernames ending in "bot", may not receive all group messages, and never sleep. The document then discusses privacy mode, commands syntax, authorizing bots through API tokens, and receiving updates through getUpdates and webhooks. It also provides an example of a .NET client and CommandHandler for bots.