Chatbots. You’ve likely heard people talking about them. Maybe you’ve even had experience with one or two yourself. From Facebook’s Messenger bots to Amazon’s in-home bot Alexa, many brands are introducing chatbots as part of the experience of using their products, with varying results. Some people even predict chatbots may one day replace websites and mobile apps altogether. But in order to do so, chatbots must undergo a lot of improvement.

Benefits of Bots Over Websites and Apps
Before we explore what areas chatbots need to improve on, let’s take a look at what is working in the world of bots. Here are some things chatbots do well:

  • They’re simple. If you can type words on a screen or make a request out loud, you can engage with a chatbot. For the most part, chatbots don’t require a ton of education before you use one.
  • They’re faster. Or at least they have the potential to be. There are still some kinks being worked out with regards to bots understanding everything we say, but once that happens, asking something of a chatbot will likely get results much faster than searching for something the “old-fashioned” way on the web.
  • Chatbots are more cost effective. From a business perspective, chatbot could save companies tons of money in the future. Chatbots can work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without getting tired or demanding overtime pay. Try finding a human customer service rep who is willing to do the same.
  • Chatbots have a consistent UI. What exactly is the UI of a chatbot? Language. The words we speak is a human interface, and it’s the only thing we need to operate a chatbot.
  • They provide instant satisfaction. Want to know the weather forecast, or what time that movie starts at the local theater? With a chatbot, there’s not even a need to find your phone or laptop to look that information up – just ask the question aloud and let the chatbot enlighten you.

It may not be the chatbot itself that will replace websites and mobile apps but the concept of providing customized information to a customer contextually rather than having them search for what they need, can replace existing website and mobile app structures.

The Pitfalls of Current Chatbots
So, if chatbots are so great, what is that needs improving? Let’s take a look:

  • The communication between customer and computer is unrealistic. Artificial Intelligence has a ways to go before most real humans will feel able to get conversational with a bot and have the encounter actually be productive. This is because — as strange as this may sound – most chatbots aren’t actually intelligent. Many chatbots were programmed with a many pre-set paths and aren’t able to deter from them.
  • Chatbots still provide a poor user experience. In most cases, the experience of talking to a chatbot is still very awkward and frustrating for most people. This can (and does) result in the bot failing to provide the user with the information they were looking for.
  • AI doesn’t understand context. For chatbots like Siri or Alexa, the scope of what may be asked of them is extremely wide, so it’s impossible for them to understand every request and its context. At least for now. Time will tell whether or not improvements can and will be made in this area.
  • They don’t keep pushing to solve problems. Have you ever tried asking Siri something that she didn’t understand? She’ll basically just tell you she doesn’t know what it is you’re asking of her and end the conversation. You have to initiate another Siri request and either rephrase your question or talk more clearly. This is a frustrating characteristic of many chatbots and needs to be fixed before the world will embrace bots wholeheartedly.
  • Not talking to a human can be tricky. When speaking aloud to a chatbot, one must always enunciate clearly (and hope the bot understands your accent if you have one), and talk loudly enough for the bot to hear. If you’re typing to a bot, you’ll want to make sure you’re at least a decent speller. Indeed, communicating with a non-human can sometimes feel tedious and like uncharted territory.
  • Lack of transparency still exists. There are some cases where it’s not always clear to a user that they’re talking to a computer online. In most cases, human behavior would be different if the user knew they were texting with a machine and not a human. Transparency is important in all avenues of business and chatbots should be no exception.

So, are chatbots the way of the future or doomed to fail? It’s still probably too early to easily make that call. As TechCrunch points out, 15 years ago when mobile apps were taking over the world, their benefit and trajectory were quite clear. Their usefulness (and use) was inherent, and it was much easier to access information using an app on your phone than to do the same tasks on your computer. But since chatbots still need a lot of work, the benefits of speed and efficiency aren’t as apparent just yet.

It requires a lot more thinking and use case creation to design a good chatbot compared to websites and apps. Additionally, UX teams need to re-think the design process in order to create bots since they are very different than websites and apps. But, it is pretty apparent that many people are championing chatbots so they are likely here to stay and will be improved upon and perfected over time.