There’s a lot of chatter about bots today, but the concept of a bot is really nothing new. Over the last 50+ years, the bot has significantly evolved with greater accuracy and diversity of use cases across industries. But at face value, a bot — more specifically a chatbot — is a computer program that simulates human conversation.
Chatbots can be auditory or text-based, with the latter becoming increasingly popular as seen on platforms like Facebook Messenger and for companies with web-based sales and support. The customer service bot is a unique subset of the bot ecosystem. Its purpose is not to sound human or make small talk — rather, its objective is to rapidly lead customers through a streamlined channel of information as efficiently as possible.