NBC Politics Bot allowed users to engage with the conversational agent via Facebook to identify breaking news topics that would be of interest to the network’s various audience demographics. After beginning the initial interaction, the bot provided users with customized news results (prioritizing video content, a move that undoubtedly made Facebook happy) based on their preferences.
Companies and customers can benefit from internet bots. Internet bots are allowing customers to communicate with companies without having to communicate with a person. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has produced a chatbot that allows customers to receive boarding passes, check in reminders, and other information that is needed for a flight.[10] Companies have made chatbots that can benefit customers. Customer engagement has grown since these chatbots have been developed.
“There is hope that consumers will be keen on experimenting with bots to make things happen for them. It used to be like that in the mobile app world 4+ years ago. When somebody told you back then… ‘I have built an app for X’… You most likely would give it a try. Now, nobody does this. It is probably too late to build an app company as an indie developer. But with bots… consumers’ attention spans are hopefully going to be wide open/receptive again!” — Niko Bonatsos, Managing Director at General Catalyst
At Facebook’s F8 Developers Conference, Messenger Bots were announced. These bots are being developed by media corporations and retailers alike and very quickly so which raises the question as to what a Messenger bot is and how it’s useful to so many different types of companies. Even more important to know is what these bots mean for the average user, whether or not they will always be safe or can they present a potential threat if they are developed by anyone with malicious intent. Here’s a the answer to all that and more.
