Encyclopedia
AI chatbot
What an AI chatbot is, how it differs from rule-based chatbots and AI agents, and where it is used.
AI chatbot is a software application that uses artificial intelligence, today usually a large language model, to hold conversations with people and answer their questions in natural language.
AI chatbot versus rule-based chatbot
A rule-based chatbot follows scripted flows: designers define questions, buttons and fixed answers in advance, and the bot can only handle what was scripted. An AI chatbot instead uses a language model to understand free-form questions and generate answers, so it copes with phrasing and topics nobody scripted.
AI chatbot versus AI agent
The terms overlap, but there is a useful distinction. An AI chatbot answers: it generates a reply from a question. An AI agent also acts: it can call tools and systems to look something up or complete a task. Every AI agent can chat, but not every AI chatbot can take actions.
Where AI chatbots are used
In customer contact, AI chatbots answer questions on a website, in WhatsApp and in apps. To answer accurately about a specific business, they are connected to that business's own knowledge base rather than relying only on their training data.
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