COMMENTARY by Editor Andy Pye ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERS THE SOCIETY OF


THE ENGINE OF CONVERSATION


everyday applications. However, chatbots are not new. Despite being over 50 years old, chatbot technology is still evolving and the history has not been all plain sailing. It began in 1966, when Joseph Weizenbaum created an early natural language processing computer program called Eliza. The program was designed to mimic human conversations by matching user prompts to pre-scripted responses. Since Eliza’s creation, technologists have experimented with the creation of several different chatbot programs and software applications. Only in recent years are we beginning to see


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chatbot technology used in everyday applications. While some could argue that these intelligent, voice- activated assistants are not truly chatbots, these applications are introducing the wider consumer market to the possibility of chatbot technology in our homes, workplaces and on the go. “Eliza may have been developed over 50 years ago,


but chatbot technology is still in its infancy,” explains Howard Williams, marketing director at Parker Software, creator of WhosOn live chat software and provider of business automation software. “It has only been in recent years that we have started to understand the potential of chatbot technology from a business perspective, rather than as a novelty or as a technological experiment.” In the company’s forthcoming book, The


Conversation Engine, the technology experts at Parker Software explore the potential, the future and the risks of using chatbots for customer service. “Without even realising, many customers will have


interacted with chatbots on customer service calls or live chat applications. However, it’s important that customer service is not completely reliant on this technology to manage complaints,” adds Williams. “As chatbots continue to evolve, it is vital that organisations take steps to explore the technology before fully implementing it into their customer service efforts.” Weizenbaum has much to answer for! But where will it lead to next?


ith the introduction of Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana and Amazon’s Alexa, we are beginning to see chatbot technology used in


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August 2017 /// Environmental Engineering /// 3


ILLUSTRATION: PARKER SOFTWARE


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