Conversational AI is a broad term, but many people narrow it down to refer only to a technology that enables bots, according to a panel of experts speaking at CX Summit.
Zeus Kerravala, Principal Analyst at ZK Research, was joined at the event by Sabio Chief Innovation Officer Stuart Dorman and David Jennings, Head of Global Sales Engineering at Webex CPaaS.
The panel discussed different aspects of conversational AI and how companies can deploy the technology to foster better customer experiences.
Stuart Dorman, Chief Innovation Officer at Sabio, said: “These days most people think of conversational AI as a voice bot or a chat bot which allows a customer to complete a task through conversation, either written or spoken, to accomplish a goal without the need to speak to a human.
“The first wave of the conversational AI applications was focused on those bots.”
David Jennings, Head of Global Sales Engineering at Webex CPaaS, added: “The ultimate difference [to me] between chatbots and conversational AI is the ability to have human variants.”
Dorman went on to explain how the application of machine learning to the art of conversational AI has transformed the space over the last few years.
“Years ago, you would have to programme a set of rules to construct a conversation which meant that the conversation ended up being very rigid and prescripted.
“If a customer asked a question in a way that you hadn’t anticipated the system really struggled to respond.