How can IoT and Chatbots together disrupt the coming years?

The introduction of technologies like AI, Machine Learning, and IoT have transformed the way businesses operate. From sending an email regarding your issues to talking to a chatbot online, businesses have seen drastic changes.

All these changes have made the operations more efficient and fast over time. And the growth hasn’t stopped here. The advancement is still happening at a remarkable pace. Today, users cannot just get their issues resolved, but it can be done without human intervention. And chatbots are the reason.

As per Globenewswire, the market of chatbots is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.5% by 2027. The projected market size is $1953 million. These numbers are a clear indication that chatbots are the future.

Today, chatbots are not just limited to IT websites probing users to check out a particular business service. They are becoming much more than that. Now, how are chatbots evolving with IoT and other technologies? We will see in this write-up!

What is an IoT Chatbot?

IoT is an interconnected system of devices with the internet and with each other. A perfect example can be a smart home with a thermostat, camera, virtual assistant, etc., all connected to the internet.

On the other hand, a Chatbot is a comprehensive and sophisticated computer program. It has the ability to mimic the conversations of an actual user. A good example is a chatbot on a company website that pitches the user regarding the business services.

The collaboration of these two concepts is counted under an IoT chatbot. A chatbot that keeps an eye over your IoT network to provide notifications and improve its health is called an IoT chatbot.

An example of this can be a chatbot deployed on WhatsApp. It can inform the user regarding the status of the thermostat at home. Based on the measured parameter, like temperature, the user can ask the chatbot to lower it. The chatbot connected to the home automation system can regulate the temperature.

There are countless other examples that we can quote with respect to the IoT chatbot.

Technologies to be used to develop the solution

An IoT Chatbot is not a fresh concept; it has been conceptualized at a smaller scale by various tech giants. As they possess the best technologies, they believe that regular chatbots are just the tip of the iceberg.

The sophistication of technologies used in IoT chatbots is high. Here are some crucial technologies that form the crux of a chatbot.

AI (Artificial Intelligence)

After all, the core technology that governs the working of a chatbot is AI. No matter what type of business you have, an AI-backed chatbot will surely help you grow it.

When a customer comes to your app or website, it’s the AI that speaks to it. Based on the textual or verbal conversation, AI understands what a user needs and responds with an appropriate response.

An AI-backed chatbot is way different than the one that works based on prompted keywords or suggested responses

An excellent example of an AI-powered chatbot is Netomi. It is an omnichannel chatbot that automatically resolves customer issues on email, chats, messaging, or voice. It is considered one of the best chatbots on the web due to various reasons like advanced NLP, reinforced learning, optimization, etc.

On top of that, it is also used by various companies like WB Games, HP, Brex, WestJet, Zinus, Singtel, and Circles Life.

NLP (Natural Language Processing)

Along with AI, NLP is at the heart of a chatbot. The idea of old chatbots was to search for one keyword in what you write (only) and give you an answer based on that. However, IoT needs something more than that.

Big tech companies like Google believe that the true power of chatbots is yet to be unveiled. NLP helps chatbots understand what a person says and devise insights based on that. Unlike traditional chatbots, modern-day assistants like Google Assistant and Siri use NLP for comprehending user inputs.

NLP has complex algorithms to process the data. It uses Natural Language Understanding and Natural Language Generation to understand natural language speech and text. They can easily interpret what the user said and define a number of actions based on that.

The process of NLP includes:

• Lexical Analysis: Breaking text into phrases and words.

• Syntactic analysis (parsing): Grammar analysis and word arrangement.

• Semantic analysis: Analyzing the meaning of the text.

• Discourse integration and Pragmatic analysis: The overall meaning of what’s said based on context.

Based on the overall meaning, NLG curates a meaningful response. It is done via text planning and text realization.

Machine Learning

Machine learning is a part of AI that enables the chatbot to learn better with time. For example, if you asked for some location from a chatbot and you got the right answer. You may reply to them, and the chatbot will record it. Based on your inputs and given outputs, it will become more precise with time.

Machine learning takes on the analysis of data in the backend to find patterns and devise valuable insights from it. It can be considered as one of the most important technologies for chatbots as it translates speech to text.

IoT Application in Chatbot Creation

The marriage of IoT and chatbot technology can rope in various benefits. Yes, it is a bit of a tough task, but once done, it can harvest various benefits!

It can act as a central element

IoT applications can have complications based on the type. For example, the IoT app for a communication network may require a unique set of commands to communicate. On the other hand, the one for your home camera may require another set of commands.

A chatbot can eliminate this hassle as you just have to speak. You can easily interact with the chatbot and control the IoT devices as per your need.

NLP-friendly

As the chatbots are NLP friendly, you just have to tell the chatbot what to do. Rest, they will interpret and handle. On top of that, modern-day chatbots can also remove typos, understand gestures and common slang.

IoT Chatbots can conduct two-way communication

If you receive any data from the device that is critical, you can ask the device to regulate it as per your need. The catch is that it can be done without any technicality. You just have to speak.

Use Cases

As of now, chatbots in IoT are not that prevalent, but again they have a lot of potential. Some of the best use cases of chatbots that can be integrated with IoT are:

Voice-based chatbots

Voice-based chatbots are the most relatable with IoT. As you can take care of all the issues by just talking to a bot, it can help you manage IoT devices well. These bots can also be used to provide a personalized experience to the users.

Food ordering chatbot

Though this is a futuristic thing, the use of food chatbots can be seen in the food industry too. Dominos already uses this concept to earn around $5 billion a year. A food ordering chatbot based on user health conditions can be a great idea.

How has Chatbot evolved with IoT?

Unlike traditional chatbots that only had pre-curated answers, modern-day chatbots can do a lot more. Google Assistant and Siri were the starters of this trend, moving on to Facebook Messenger chatbot. Currently, there are over 1.4 billion people using chatbots. So, the rise of chatbots is inevitable.

They are further speculated to rise more, and IoT is their current target. As of now, chatbots have not disrupted the IoT applications much, but they are expected to change the face of the entire IoT infrastructure. Many top firms are working to provide a co nsistent experience to users with chatbots.