chatbots
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Facebook Messenger's latest update hints at chatbots
At this point, it's a bit of an open secret that Facebook will announce the arrival of chatbots for Messenger at F8, its annual developer conference. Well, the latest Messenger update all but confirms it. If you were to do a search in the latest version of Facebook's chat app, you'll find a new category heading called "Bots and Businesses." Prior to the update, this would simply read "Businesses," which was a listing of companies that you could message for customer support and general inquiries. Messaging businesses typically involves speaking to a human, however, while talking to chatbots would likely be a more automated experience -- sort of like chatting to the equivalent of a phone tree. We've seen a few examples of this already. Uber and Lyft requests function similar to bots (especially if you're requesting updates), as does the recent KLM chatbot that lets you book flights with just a few keypresses. There've also been rumors that the chatbot experience isn't limited to just businesses either; we're hearing that publishers could get in on the Messenger chatbot train as well (get ready for breaking news via Messenger). Techcrunch reported last week that a Chat SDK of sorts have already been seeded out to a few developers that instructs them on how to build chatbots into Messenger, so we're guessing we'll find out more about how it all works at the F8 keynote later today at 10am PT / 1pm ET. Stay tuned.
Watch Microsoft's opening-day Build keynote in just 10 minutes
If you didn't happen to be sitting near a computer during the opening ceremonies for Microsoft's Build developer conference yesterday, never fear: We've condensed the two-hour, opening-day keynote into a roughly 10-minute video. Included in our highlight reel are CEO Satya Nadella's opening remarks; the Windows 10 "Anniversary Update"; news on universal apps; a demo of new Windows inking features; Microsoft's surprise Linus news; a peek at HoloLens's packaging; and, most importantly, a glimpse at Microsoft's incoming army of chatbots. If you've got just 10 minutes, we'll give you all the meat, minus the fluff.
Microsoft hopes Cortana will lead an army of chatbots to victory
If Bloomberg Businessweek's latest cover story didn't make obvious enough, the hour or so Microsoft dedicated to it on stage at its Build developer conference should have cleared up any doubts: Cortana as a big part of the company's future. Microsoft wants the AI assistant to do everything, but knows it can't make that dream a reality by itself. The new framework allows developers to build an independent chatbot that plays nice with users and Cortana. Microsoft isn't the only one pursuing the goal of the perfect assistant, though, and there's no telling if its efforts to inspire an army of chatbots will be successful. Although chatbots have been around for half a century, they didn't have a practical use until the internet took hold. SmarterChild, which was popular on AOL AIM and Microsoft Messenger, worked like an advanced directory inquiries, giving out business information, weather and even movie times. Google searches quickly took over this functionality for most users, though, and more modern interpretations have largely taken the form of a personal assistant. Apple's Siri, released in 2011 with the iPhone 4S, blended conversational interactions with basic functionality like opening apps, playing music, and managing calendar appointments. In 2012, Google Now took a more automated approach, surfacing information based on your search results, calendar, and email. Cortana, which debuted in 2013, built on this with greater integrations, deep links into apps and a secure, personalizable "Notebook" that stores user information. In the meantime, developers in China were doing something completely different.
Chatting with Skype bots feels like talking to a search engine
Earlier today, Microsoft announced that it would be integrating chat bots into Skype, thus allowing you to have quick conversations with a variety of businesses and services. At the Build 2016 keynote, we saw examples of how you could book a hotel through a WestinBot or order a pizza though a Domino's Bot. Those specific bots are unfortunately not available to the public just yet, but if you update Skype today, you'll be able to play around with at least a few chat bots to get an idea of how it all works.
Microsoft is betting big on AI chatbots like Tay
Tay, the AI-powered chatbot that ended up spewing hate speech on Twitter, is just the beginning for Microsoft. At its Build developer conference later today, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will unveil a broader "conversation as a platform" strategy, which involves releasing many chatbots built for different purposes, Businessweek reports. You'll be able to message them just like Tay, but we'll also get a glimpse of bots built into Skype that can do things like book hotel rooms. Just like its aim for Windows 10 apps last year, Microsoft is hoping to get developers excited by the idea of building bots at Build.
The curious sext lives of chatbots
ELIZA is old enough to be my mother, but that didn't stop me from trying to have sex with her. NSFW Warning: This story may contain links to and descriptions or images of explicit sexual acts.
Facebook Messenger might soon have an army of bots
Facebook has given select developers access to a secret SDK for Messenger, according to TechCrunch, one that they can use to build bots for the app. We're not talking about spambots or those AI chatbots you talk to when you're lonely -- we're talking about bot accounts you can send messages to in order to make purchases or to ask for info and directions.
MyCyberTwin knows why you cry, but it's something it can never do
An Australian company has grand plans to reinvent the lowly chatbot by giving it a little personality -- yours. And no, it's not just for messing with your friends. MyCyberTwin is a chat robot designed to be easily programmable by ordinary users. The 'bot accepts high-level input in the form of detailed questionnaires about politics, religion, and sex, as well as the answers to any questions you might anticipate it being asked, like "What are you doing on Saturday?" The idea is that you'll install the chat widget on your blog or MySpace profile, and then visitors can talk to "you" based on what you've programmed into the 'bot. But besides the thorny problem of managing an army of emo MySpace robots, the MyCyberTwin people seem to have overlooked the obvious name for their product: with endless online relationship questions and politics quizzes plus the thrill of filling out personality profiles, this thing is just begging to be called MyFreshmanDorm.[Via TechnologyReview]
