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The problem with chatbots is one of an unfulfilled promise, an unrealistic setting of user expectations. An empty Google search window doesn't pretend to be a
by kdtop 6y ago
The problem with chatbots is one of an unfulfilled promise, an unrealistic setting of user expectations. An empty Google search window doesn't pretend to be a human being -- although it is actually very powerful. Clippy, on the other hand, has a human face and pretends to be an intelligent agent, only to fail. So chatbots, when seeming to act like a human via natural language, are held in the user's mind to a higher standard. Siri, in my iPhone, seems to strike a better balance. It takes my spoken input and gives replies (albeit not great replies). But I never get the feeling that it is trying to carry on an extended conversation with me.
- thrav 6y agoThis is not true of all ChatBots. In fact, some companies outright discourage using theirs as such. USAA, for example, makes it abundantly clear that you’re talking to a robot, before beginning the conversation and provides multiple choice options for common support flows. I’m actually a big fan of theirs for things like travel notifications or ATM withdrawal limit increases.
- eloisius 6y agoPersonally, I despise these interfaces. It’s not “chat,” I’m being provided with option prompts and everything. Why squash it all into a linear, 1D chat dialog instead of just a regular web form to do a simple task like increase your withdraw limit?
- thrav 6y agoBecause the ChatBot squashes all those different pages and forms into one location. It takes the time and mental load of trying to locate features on the site or app off of me. Instead of navigating through 3 links to reach the form, having to search the newly loaded page each time, I answer 3 questions. In truth, I just type “ATM withdrawal limit” and the form begins, because it’s so obvious what I’m trying to do.
- eloisius 6y agoOnce you’ve got something down to muscle memory it really doesn’t matter how it works so long as it stays the same, I guess. I feel like these things are a speed bump when I run into them though. I recently canceled a my service with a utility. Instead of a simple form to select a date to shut off service, provide a new mailing address, and a submit button, I had to go through this artificial “dialog” with a robot. What if I made a typo in the date? How do I go back and fix it? Restart the whole thing? Try magical NLP strings like “change cancelation date” and see what happens? It just feels like a step backward to funnel interactions that used to be carried out using a rich UI through a chat dialog. I wonder how this affects usability for blind or mobility impaired people too. It might be better for them, idk. Chat dialog interfaces can be cool as a way to piggyback a service through existing chat services. I used to love goog411 back in the SMS era. But I don’t want everything I do with a computer reduced down to a fake chat with a robot.
- thrav 6y agoAs an example, I just needed the routing number for my account to make a payment. I was like, “shit, where is that in the app again”, but had just made this comment, so I hit help, and typed “routing number”, and it immediately responded with the routing number in big bold letters. (https://imgur.com/a/raXEyO3 https://imgur.com/a/raXEyO3) The point is to eliminate the need to work to find stuff.
- eloisius 6y agoAnd I just typed “USAA routing number” into google and got the same result. I’m not opposed to having searchable customer support for this kind of information, I just don’t like going through the clumsy dialog charade to accomplish common tasks that require input of data.
- thrav 6y agoObviously that example can be replicated in a Google search, but that doesn’t invalidate the value of the same concept applied to protected information.
- d0mine 6y agoI find chatbots helpful for language learning e.g., grammar bot in Memrise