Open the internet, and you see a flying name coming on your side. No, not Elon or his crazy endeavor this time but something more than that. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, it is. It feels like we have drifted technically so fast from fun conversations with Siri and Google to the commanding musical order to Alexa and now to the not so demanding AI conversation chatbot. I don’t understand why humans always urge to make their ongoing already perfect work simpler. Like, Can you find a better information conveyer like me on AI? I know your love towards me, but, hey, we can at least give a chance to AI for conversation purposes. Numerous people and companies have already given one there to obviously enjoy their vacation, leaving AI to work! Hence, it becomes crucial for us to at least look on their side and see if it works in our favor too. So, without further stretching our conversation, let me tell you everything from scratch about AI Chatbots.
What Is an AI Chatbot Anyway?
At the moment, I am explaining the article to you so that you can read it with your children so that if you leave out any points, they make sure you understand them. Not Really! It is my terrific humor.
Consider checking any website or online store; what is the first interaction you see from their end? While you witness a lot of information and products, a tiny little creature waves hello and exchanges greetings with you. That baby creature is a kind of chatbot. While you follow up with your questions, it will redirect to human support for your needs. The concept of this was always very basic, but the more we understand it, the more fascinating it becomes. The latest AI chatbots give you the technology to speak to tiny creatures who have the human ability to communicate through text or speech. So, you can say that AI chatbots are a technology where you don’t need a human supervisor for all the customer support. Consider it an automated call center where machines are having fun without humans! The next question must be why it even come into existence or their nostalgic stupid story. Here you go.
Why AI Chatbots Came Into Existence at the First End?
If you think that AI chatbots are a single-day or monthly result, then my pal, you are much worse at the subject of Artificial intelligence. Because, back in the 1950s, many people saw the vision and tried to initiate the AI chatbots we see today.
It starts with the scientist Alan Turing, a computer pioneer who wanted to perform a Turing test where any user who became a judge talks to a machine and a human. Then comes the invention of the first-ever chatbot ELIZA in 1966 by Joseph Weizenbaum, which was successful in mimicking humans and talking to them by changing words into programmable scripts.
1971-72 – It was a fine year when a psychiatrist, Kenneth Colby of Stanford University Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, developed a similar trait chatbot with extended humanization in responses named PARRY.
1984– It was the year of William Chamberlain and Thomas Etter’s experimentation, where they formed an artificially insane raconteur named RACTER. Well, sadly, it never came into the markets.
1988– Rollo Carpenter’s chatbot JABBERWACKY released, mainly intended for entertainment and companionship, was what we today would call a beta version of Siri.
1991– Dr. SBAITSO developed a computerized psychologist-oriented chatbot that can communicate with humans through sound cards. Interesting, right?
1995– “Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity,” a natural language processing bot that stimulates a chat with a woman.
2000– Here comes another AI chatbot but for people like us, ELBOT. It was for entertainment, deploying irony and sarcasm.
2001– SMARTERCHILD developed as a personalized AI chatbot stimulating a natural conversation with humans.
2005– MITSUKU, A five-time winner, which is a teenage female chatbot with high-level intelligence that gives reason with specific objects.
In 2006, IBM released Watson, an AI system based on a simple question-answering engine that could search the internet. Watson then entered “Jeopardy! a television show, where two human contestants competed against him. And it won.
Then came the game changer and our favorite, Siri in 2010, developed by Apple. Google
Now in 2012, Alexa by Amazon in 201, and finally Facebook chatbots in 2016.
Thereafter, we have developed more convenient options for different purposes. Now, after a historical story, it is time to understand whether it is really workable for us or not. Like, if they are good to us, then we can think of spending more time reading about them. So meet me in the next section, where I am letting you know about the answer.
Are They Important?
Let me give you a few statistics about them before telling you whether they are crucial or not.
According to Smallbiz Genius, chatbots can cut operational costs by up to 30% in any business.
As per MIT Technology Review, 90% of businesses have seen more complain solving tendencies with a better approach to their customers.
And Grand View Research says that by 2025, the chatbot market will reach $1.2 Billion globally.
So much data in one shot! But I need to back my statements with a valid point, so I already poured some knowledge here.
You must know now that AI chatbots can give a weighted value to customer services by extending service 24*7 and responding instantaneously to customer questions. Further, I see, especially in ladies, that they want a quick solution. Of course, I hate waiting and always need expeditious answers. So, faster access to real-time guidance is something your customers look forward to. And AI undoubtedly scores number here.
Hence briefly, AI chatbots can help you grow your business with better customer support, but before you invest in AI, you have to open your mind and find the best through experimentation.
For the easy-going entrepreneurs who need everything pointwise, like my graduation Chemistry teacher: here you go.
AI chatbots help you to –
- Convert your website traffic with a good proportion. It is seen that the average conversion rate of any website is generally 1%. But with a quick question or a proactive offer, you can surpass it with a good number.
- Generate your email list conveniently while approaching them on the landing page with one-tap offers like a pdf view, quick demo or free e-goodies.
- Automate and ease the flow of business processes by integrating marketing platforms with them.
- Providing 24X7 support to each of your customers.
Don’t tell me you are still searching for benefits! Because you had enough. Now, it is time to unveil the list of best ai chatbots. Next section, please!
The Most Realistic AI Chatbots.
The ones who have made it to this list are the winners, or should I say the best Chatbots for 2023. Here you go with the list! Remember that I am obviously not putting anyone on first through numbers. But Let’s say this is the carefully curated list of the best ai chatbots.
1. Giosg.
You can add GIFS, images, videos, and, more to interact with your customer with simple uploads. It provides businesses to communicate through AI, build an automated interaction through texts, and, make lead capture pop-ups for extending their email list. Now, if you are a small business and you can’t even hire a coder, mate, this is for you. You don’t need supervision or something. All you need to do is request a demo and get started. And Yes, do not blindly spend money, instead take a free trial of 30 days to decide. I think for creative websites and managing everything codeless for interaction, this becomes first in the list of best ai chatbots.
2. Mobile Monkey.
Just like the name sounds, it is not limited to one function. So far, we were just discussing talking and talking, but this chatbot is for people who want their entire sales channel operated by AI. You can reach more customers on Facebook Messenger, Instagram, web chat, and SMS through its AI chatbot. Additionally, you can integrate business applications, including platforms for CRM, email marketing, and order fulfillment. The best thing about this platform is you will have the entire email list generated based on the visitors to your website. However, a free trial for extracting leads is not provided on their website. Also, it does not show the exact and true numbers for your website, which makes it faulty somewhere.
3. Flow XO.
What is the fun behind any new technology if we do not train things and ourselves for it? Flow XO is a kind of chatbot that is a multi-tasker and enables you to create bots and build custom workflows while giving you the complete flexibility to design and monitor your AI chatbot. You can link them to any of your means of conversation like Facebook, slack, telegram, sms. Before you commit to training a bot and put some skills and time into it, you have a free trial and usage of up to 500 interactions. So play wisely, mate.
4. Drift.
Powered by both artificial intelligence (NLP) and rule-based automation, Drift provides conversational marketing and sales software. As stated on their website,
“Drift’s conversational AI is trained on over 6 billion conversations to identify patterns that engage and convert visitors into the qualified pipeline.”
So you don’t have to learn machine learning or coding for anything. All you need to do is enjoy the process and profits with no clutter.
5. MindSay or Laiye.
Everyone can build a bot with Mindsay’s easy-to-use, low-code conversational AI platform. The platform allows you to set up a chatbot quickly (regardless of your technical skills). Obviously, there is a reason to integrate with your business. You will improve the quality of customer service and the productivity of your team quickly and easily. A company like Mindsay has expertise working with leading brands across industries, allowing it to tailor conversational AI for any business need. It simply means they have already made it better for you with their excellent resources and research on human resources. All you have to do is apply it.
6. Bold 360.
You might understand your customers and their twisted tongues with a complex persona. So you might have a question that whether AI can be savage like the Dbrand company officials. I don’t know the extent, but this Bold 360 goes with its name. It helps you to reply to your customers with a savage and help. It is trusted by leading companies like Intuit, Edible Arrangements, and Vodafone, which enables us to at least give it a try. If you ask my opinion, then this might be a great choice to choose from several other best ai chatbots list.
7. WotNot.
It seems there are too many chatbots with a competition of giving industries an inbuilt-marketing tool. And WotNot leads the list with its easy user interface, building intelligent chatbots without coding and machine learning and offering a complete range of conversational marketing solutions for multiple industries. Too much promotional? Mate, you have my side!
8. Chatfuel.
If you are looking for a simple and easygoing chatbot, then Chatfuel can be an option to consider. Its easy-user interface helps you to build intelligent AI, focusing on building chatbots for Facebook messenger and Instagram. So much in just one! And you do not need coding for it too. It has a drag-and-drop interface, which enables you codeless build of customized and designed chatbot. Its key features include- Intuitive interface, Integrations available via API, an Easy setup process, Drip sequences, and triggered messages, and Attributes to segment the audience.
9. Pandorabots.
Pandorabots stand out from the rest of the AI chatbots discussed here- it allows you to create a chatbot character. Using special animation integration with Rapport, you can bring your chatbot to life. That means you seriously create a character with AI and brag about it to your client and family. They also have a Small Talk library that contains inputs for popular queries. It eliminates the need to work on those responses again. Since the library is 100% free and open-source, it is easily accessible. A turn-key integration is available with Telegram, Twitter, WeChat, Facebook Messenger, LINE, and numerous other platforms.
10. Manychat.
If you are in love with AI performing all your marketing processes, this might be a better read for you. ManyChat lets you generate leads, engage prospects, and drive sales via Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and SMS. A marketing and sales team-driven platform is designed to meet their needs. The AI chatbots make it easy to collect user data, schedule appointments, and sell products. Furthermore, it integrates with popular apps like Shopify, Mailchimp, HubSpot, Google Sheets, ConvertKit, and Zapier. You can create a comprehensive sales and marketing strategy, helping you reach prospects and build excellent client relationships.
11. Intercom.
Now, you finally have something new here in this AI application. Not only chatting, managing customers, personalized conversations, and marketing campaign builders, but it also provides your customers with an exclusive product tour. It simply means one having money to spend will not be closed with an empty hand. He is all yours! Try it on your own and tell me what you like here.
12. Rulai.
Rulai is an AI-powered chatbot with a deep learning-based natural language understanding. It means whether your customers just blabber and it will know the exact answer. It is for enterprise brands and is capable of understanding context and even predicting user behavior and taking action. AI is becoming smart with its deeds, I guess. Rulai also integrates with most messaging channels, customer service platforms, enterprise business applications, and cloud storage solutions. In Ruali’s drag-and-drop design console, you can create a chatbot from scratch and let AI adapt to your customers, or you can use a pre-trained chatbot based on your specific industry data. It’s all your choice and decision.
13. Ada.
You can train Ada, add GIFs to certain messages, and store customer data with its drag-and-drop builder. It is trusted by companies like Medium, Shopify, and MailChimp. As well as integrating with most messaging channels and customer service software, Ada can send personalized content to customers, collect feedback from them, and report on your bots’ time, effort, and cost savings. The Ada website claims that its customers have saved over $100 million and 1 billion minutes of customer service effort.
Oh, My God! So much about the race to come first in the best ai chatbots list. Might be a relief to you and industries, of course!
Let’s Discuss the Disadvantages of Any AI Chatbot!
You must know that everything comes with its own disadvantages, and technology can not beat humans. Think of a case scenario where your customer needs genuine help, and there is emotional decision-making, which only humans can imply. How will you carry out the rest of the process with AI, knowing that it has limited responses? It feels like an infant trained rather than an experienced human. Though the platforms I suggested earlier are better for making chatbots, a large industry can not rely upon on few machine parts without any human supervision. Further, you must take additional responsibility for its maintenance and time-to-time routine checkups, just like a newborn.
Are AI Chatbots Sentient?
So far, we don’t know whether ai chatbots are sentient or not. Google recently removed an engineer who claimed that its artificial intelligence has the ability to manipulate and take decisions with emotions.
How to Pick the Perfect AI Chatbot for Your Purpose?
It is tedious and time-consuming to check every single AI tool to come to help. So to make it simple, I jotted down five easy steps that will help you find the right AI chatbot without any hassle. Sounds like a relief? I know; and yes, before we proceed, I wish to tell you that this way is not just limited to the above-listed AI Chatbots, but instead applies to every single one over the market.
Let’s get started.
1. Select Your Industry.
This step might sound irrelevant but trust me, it is crucial. There is a difference between the specializations of these ai chatbots, so you have to stick to the norms. This way, you will find the perfect one for your business. I am giving you the best of the below according to niches.
Retail– Giosg, Laiye, WotNot, Rulai.
Finance– Drift, Laiye, WotNot, Intercom, Rulai, Ada.
Manufacturing– Drift, WotNot, Rulai.
E-commerce– WotNot, Chatfuel, Intercom, Rulai, Ada.
Technology– Drift, WotNot.
Healthcare– Laiye, WotNot, Intercom, Rulai.
Every Industry– Mobile Monkey, FlowXO, Bold360, Chatfuel, Pandorabots.
2. Find Your Purpose.
Ask yourself in simple words, why do need an ai chatbot and accordingly filter out the options.
Some of the capabilities they excel at are:
If Marketing– Giosg, Drift, Pandorabots, Intercom, Ada
If Sales or Email Outreach– Giosg, Mobilemonkey, FlowXO, Drift, WotNot, Pandorabots
If Support– Giosg, Mobilemonkey, FlowXO, Laiye(also for complete automation), Bold 360, WotNot, Chatfuel, Pandorabots, Manychat, Intercom, Ada
3. Check Your Level of Knowledge.
We are dividing in the terms of your coding knowledge so that you have easy usability. (For beginners, it’s like child’s play, which only translates to The Simplest.)
Beginner– Giosg, Mobilemonkey, FlowXO, Drift, WotNot, Chatfuel, Manychat
Intermediate– Laiye, Pandorabots, Ada
Expert– Bold 360
4. Trim Down to the Most Suitable Options.
Now that you have a few options left, it is finally time to get their demos and proceed toward the competition for the best and most budget-friendly ai chatbots.
5. Go for a Suitable Price.
See all of them have a fair price sheet according to your industry scale- small, medium, and large. However, after you take demos and sessions, get the best budget option for your business.
Final Words.
I am obviously exhausted with the term AI now, but you guys are too much into it, so I can’t help to show you again and again through articles. AI chatbots can bring change to small ventures who can not afford human resources, unlike it came in few bucks, of course.
However, it does need a lot of improvements. You can try having fun with them in this not-so-social era and shoot me your thoughts in the comments below.
