The social networking giant intends of letting bots to replace the apps
According to Mark Zuckerberg, the consumers of the smartphones and the likes are in the whirlpool of the app overload therefore, last week he came up with an easy solution to the problem, dubbed as “chatbots.” The new technology is likely to revolutionize the way smartphones have been used currently, in addition to boosting Facebook’s and other Internet companies’ profitability.
Bots –or as officially called, chatbots –are the basic version of the software agents which normally comprehend what the users have said or typed and then provide a response accordingly –such as carrying out the task asked to do or answering the questions. The most popular bots are Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri. However, the bots which Mr. Zuckerberg is looking forward to has sprung from the collaboration of escalating artificial intelligence techniques and popular text-messaging programs. If the Zuckerberg’s concept of bot can be transitioned into reality then the software will know what the users like, retain the information given by the users, and work together with the users to make the lives much convenient.
The first ever bot was built in 1960s and was dubbed as “Eliza.” She did extremely well in giving a reply to the questions entered into a computer terminal of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her answers doesn’t have clear details which made her appeared to be an “inexplicably shallow psychotherapist.”
But to the social networking giant, bots are more modern than over half a century old technology –a new modification to apps. Moreover, they are a pathway to bring the company’s business partners closer to its over a billion WhatsApp and Messenger users, particularly born-to-chat millennial generation. Moreover, Facebook bots have an edge, they are being run on the background of social networking giant’s Messenger service. This indicates that there wouldn’t be any particular “app” to download. This is a win-win for both parties with users getting convenience while Facebook manages to have its own version of Silicon Valley iPhone maker’s prestigious App Store.
Last week, the Menlo Park, Calif. firm’s CEO, while addressing the organization’s F8 developer conference, opined that a majority of people didn’t like to install a new app for every new or existing service or business they have to interact with. He added that the company wants to enable the users to send a message to the business in exactly the same fashion as they “message their friends.”
The $309 billion organization is trekking on the trails of the Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat –the most popular Chinese messaging app. The app does allow the users to use bots in order to pay bills or shop. In the similar pattern, Facebook has introduced around 25 bots which are providing a vast range of services including, but not limited to, flower deliveries, weather forecasts, and news updates. Also, the users tap and send text messages instead of clicking, swiping or pointing.
This will bring in more revenue stream for the messaging business of the Californian social networking titan in which it has already invested a huge amount. Also, the company is in initial steps of checking out the concept of sponsored messages, and “chatbots” could be pivotal for that.
Although, the company, at the time being, is not looking at bots’ monetization however, many analysts see substantial potential of money generation from bots. According to Evercore Group LLC, the company is exposed to around $4 billion opportunity through its incentive of holding customer support through messaging world.
The initial run of the service has not been satisfactory but the company is hopeful of turning around the discrepancies and making the bots service better and better. Since bots are introduced with an intention of replacing apps, a considerable amount of time will tell how far their performance have come along.
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