Introduction to Chatbots and AI

• A chatbot is a program that can converse with users through writing or speech.
• Chatbots greet the user, invite questions, determine the user's intent, and then answer.
• Text-based chatbots are found on websites, blogs, social media, and mobile apps, often as floating buttons.
• Voice assistants like Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant are voice chatbots on phones triggered by phrases like "Hey Voice Bot".
• Chatbots follow programmed instructions but cannot chat on many topics like a human can.
• Chatbots scan user input, using keywords or button selections and search a knowledge base for matching responses; if there is no match, the chatbot cannot help.
• Artificial intelligence enables chatbots to seem intelligent.

Natural Language Processing

• AI tech that enables a computer to understand text and spoken words and allows a chatbot to respond in a human-like way.

Machine Learning

• AI tech that uses data to improve a program, often changing its algorithms improving a chatbot’s responses.

Application Programming Interface (API)

• Tech that connects apps so they can share data; allowing a chatbot to perform actions like showing products, processing payments, or forwarding support tickets.
• Chatbots are popular because they provide help any time and excel at clearly defined tasks.

Benefits for Customers

• Instant answers
• Personal recommendations
• Solving simple problems

Benefits for Employees

• Answering repetitive questions
• Explaining step-by-step instructions
• Eliminating boring tasks

Benefits for Companies

• Freeing staff to solve complex problems
• Eliminating sick days or breaks
• Engaging with customers 24/7

What Chatbots Can Do

• Answering common questions
• Recommending products
• Processing orders
• Tracking shipments
• Giving refunds
• Asking survey questions
• Creating support tickets
• Gathering information from multiple sources
• Connecting users to live agents when needed
• Tracking data to improve responses
• A chatbot is a program that can have a conversation with users.
• A chatbot must follow a set of instructions to do a task.
• A chatbot can not answer "which bus goes to the shopping mall?" on a sports team's Facebook page.
• A chatbot can save time of school staff by answering questions about an event, resulting in less calls and emails.
• A chatbot is a program that can have a conversation with others.
• Natural language processing translates human text and spoken words into data a computer can understand.
• Machine learning uses data to improve a program by changing its own algorithm or rules of operation.
• Application programming interfaces connect apps so that they can share data.
• Chatbots can be available on websites or mobile apps.
• Chatbots scan a user's input for keywords to find a suitable response.
• Answer repetitive questions, which frees staff to solve complex problems and helping customers anytime of the day are reasons why companies use chatbots.
• Plan the Event Chatbot is an assignment to design a chatbot for a school event that could be prom, dance, spirit day, play, game, talent show, or retirement party to ask questions about the date, time, place, and other details.
• An event chatbot helps event organizers and the school's office staff, providing answers any time of day.
• The event chatbot matches keywords: checking the user's input for the first word the chatbot recognizes and giving a reply that matches keyword; it uses a knowledge base of replies is created specific words and phrases.
• To open your chatbot, you have to say "hi" to the user, introduce itself, and explain what it can do.
• To prompt the user to input their request, use the Sensing block ask and wait to display a textbox for the user to type.
• The input is temporarily stored as the variable answer; a variable is a container that stores a value.
• Forever creates a loop that allows the user to keep asking questions until they end the chat.