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Bala Madhusoodhanan
Bala Madhusoodhanan

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Exploring the World of Chatbots: From Rule-Based to AI-Powered

Intro

In today’s digital-first landscape, chatbots have become essential tools for enterprises, enhancing interactions across various domains such as internal operations, customer service, marketing, and more. From basic query-based bots to advanced AI-powered assistants, chatbots are revolutionizing business efficiency. In this blog, we will explore the different types of chatbots, compare low-code platforms with custom AI-powered NLP chatbots, and examine the chatbot framework within the Microsoft ecosystem.

Chatbot Types

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Rule Based Chat Bots Intellectual Independent ChatBots : AI Powered Chat Bots:
Simple Capabilities Leverages NLP Capabilities These are Hybrid and can be enriched the user experience
Very Specific to Tasks Keeps the context of the conversation and responds factoring the history of data Customised to work with API’s to augment user
Query based and could only respond to what it knows
No inference from previous interaction
Easy to Train

Platform Options


No / Low Code Platforms

Artificial Intelligence Markup Language (AIML) Platform / Cloud ML Platform

These platforms are user-friendly and easy to use since no coding is involved, Most of the time, just drag and drop. The goal of these tools is to provide the facility of building a chatbot for everyone, even the ones who does not have technical expertise or any prior experience of machine learning or any such field.

You can define categories for certain patterns using markup. Then, hence designed markup can be used to process the user’s replies.

Pros:

•Easy to build

•Most of these are free and easy to integrate with available messaging platforms.

•Speed to market

•Ideal for Simple Rule based

•Configuration is simple

Pros:

•Flexible and powerful if designed properly

•Higher return on Investment

•Rich NLP (Natural Language Processing) capabilities


Cons:

•They have minimal or sometimes no language processing skills

•Not suitable for complex solution

•Costs


Cons:

•Higher skillset needed

•Higher implementation cost

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Consideration with Microsoft Eco-system

he Microsoft ecosystem offers a robust framework to support these innovations, ensuring that enterprises can stay ahead in this digital-first landscape

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Some Design Consideration going with Low Code Platform

  • Testing automation for Chatbot solution
  • Premium connectors and lic costing

Closing Notes:
By embracing the right chatbot solutions, businesses can not only streamline their operations but also provide exceptional customer experiences, drive marketing efforts, and foster internal collaboration. The future of business efficiency is here, and it is powered by chatbots.

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