As AI conversation gets visual, here’s how business’ chatbots must evolve

AI conversations in business

As if artificial intelligence (AI) couldn’t get any more, well… intelligent, new technology has incorporated the visual element into AI conversations. This type of inclusion is particularly valuable for e-commerce brands looking to add value to their customers by means of imagery. It might sound complex but it’s not.

In addition to voice and text, chatbots are growing to meet the visual demands of consumers. If you think back to a few years ago, chatbots could only answer a few basic questions such as, “What are your trading hours?” and “What are your specials?”. Fast-forward to today, and bots can recommend a product to you based on your search history, answer your text message in your preferred language, understand voice commands, and, now even analyze visual data and generate a response to your image question.

The future of chatbot intelligence and AI conversation

We’ve all asked someone how something looks on us. Whether it’s a pair of sunglasses, a colorful jacket or new mascara. Whatever the case, visual chatbots are able to answer those types of questions. These revolutionary chatbots will rely on imagery to spark conversations, which will act as an extension feature to the much-loved texting chatbot. But before any chatbot can meet this level of intelligence, it will need to be exposed to high levels of visual data to be able to digest such information.

Many people assume that chatbots are failing because they can’t see. And because they can’t see, they are unable to make out what the customer is asking. As it stands, there are already many situations where users become frustrated by the lack of understanding experienced in a chatbot conversation. To change this, it’s up to entrepreneurs and their ability to feed their bots the correct data.

Chatbots need eyes

There are already a few early-stage visual bots being utilized in the travel and security industries. And it’s easy to see why customers prefer these bots. Why? Because when chatbots are able to see the problem, they’ll be able to solve it without frustration. But in order for this to happen, chatbots will need to be exposed to the thousands of images being sent and received before they’ll be capable of digesting imagery.

With all the excitement of how businesses can start gearing their chatbots to meet these needs, there are a few things they’ll need to consider beforehand. First, they need to get their AI conversation approach right and develop databases that contain a wide scope of information.

The visual evolution will encompass a number of phases:

Understanding of text to image

In order for chatbots to understand images, the chatbot will need to receive a text-based sentence from a customer, which can be used for search purposes. This text is then searched using Google to find an image, something that represents the text in visual terms. For example, asking a coffee shop a question about the different types of coffee available, and then receiving an infographic tutorial in return.

Understanding of image to image

Once your bot knows how to translate text into visuals, you can move on to a more advanced AI conversation using vision AI to process and reply via the same medium.

Understanding of interactive visual conversation

This is the process where your chatbot is able to switch to real-time video mode, allowing customers to show the chatbot an issue and receive interactive guidance on it. For example, helping a customer install an appliance at home.

Investing in the future of your chatbot

As you can see, chatbots are always evolving. If entrepreneurs don’t adjust their approach to meet their customers’ ever-changing needs, they’re missing out on an opportunity to personalize their customer experience and boost their bottom line. If you harness the power of an omnichannel chatbot solution by using a tool such as Clickatell Touch, you’ll be able to adjust your approach according to your customers’ needs. Customers love communicating with chatbots rather than humans, so if you want to keep them happy, engaged, and improve your customer experience, make the most of AI conversation.