Jacob Molina
Before jumping right in, let's cover some frequently used terms in conversational AI. We've put a list together of terms with their definition so you can navigate the app with ease.
Conversational AI aka Chatbot (or bot for short)
A conversational AI is software that imitates human-like conversation with users via websites and mobile messaging apps. They answer users’ questions and help them handle tasks without the help of a human.
Bot Studio (formerly called authoring tool)
Bot Studio is our feature that allows you to build and launch chatbots with little or no coding.
Conversational channel
A channel is a place where a chatbot is launched and where users can interact with it. It could be a website, LiveChat, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Slack, Kik, etc.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the area of computer science that is sometimes described as machine intelligence. It allows conversational AIs to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence, like decision making, language translation, or speech recognition.
Generative AI
Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that can generate new content, including text, images, music, and other media, by learning from vast datasets. These systems utilize algorithms to understand patterns, styles, or structures in the data, enabling them to produce novel outputs that are similar to, but not exactly the same as, the examples they were trained on, often achieving results that can mimic human creativity.
Natural language processing
Natural language processing (NLP) is a branch of AI that helps computers read, understand, and make sense of the human language. It lets chatbots understand the context and meaning of a user’s message and react to it properly, even if the user makes a spelling mistake.
Apart from chatbots, NLP powers plenty of apps and services including Google Translate or Grammarly.
Machine learning
Machine learning (ML) is a branch of AI that allows chatbots to identify patterns in human language and learn from past conversations. Thanks to machine learning, properly programmed AI chatbots can improve over time without the help of a human.
Sentiment analysis
Sentiment analysis is a subfield of computer science that uses NLP and machine learning to measure the sentiment and tone of a text or spoken language.
Sentiment analysis can help a conversational AI analyze user messages and identify whether the person’s attitude towards certain products or services is negative, positive, or neutral.
API
API is the acronym for application programming interface. It’s a toolset that lets apps communicate with other services and enables developers to integrate new apps into existing software.
For example, when Facebook made its API public in 2016, chatbot developers were able to finally integrate their third-party solutions with Messenger.
Webhooks
Webhooks, also called a web callback, are automated API responses. They retrieve information from chatbot conversations, like email addresses or telephone numbers, and pass them automatically to web services. For example, to your CRM or email marketing software and the other way around.
Software integration
Software integration (or just integrations) is the process of two or more applications being connected. For example, with Messenger integration, you can connect ChatBot with Messenger or Slack with no coding.
Entities
Entities are keywords and phrases that are similar in meaning and that are crucial for your chatbot conversations. For example, the names of products and services you offer.
You can create your list of entities so that your chatbot can identify and retrieve them from user responses. Because of that, your chatbot can provide answers relevant to user input. For example, it can recommend an exact product that interests a customer.
User: I would like to order coffee. Bot: What type of coffee would you like to have?
- Latte
- Flat white
- Cappuccino
Chat widget
A chat widget is a ready-to-use, customizable chat window that is added to a website. A chat widget hosts your chatbot and enables users to converse with it.
Groups (or Flow)
Groups are collections of related topics, like "Check My Insurance" or "Find a Location," which help organize your chatbot’s conversational topics into manageable sections.
Greeting
A greeting is a short message that welcomes website users and encourages them to start a chat. It’s shown right above the minimized chat widget.
Fallback
It’s a default interaction that is triggered when the bot doesn’t recognize the user’s input.
I missed what you said. Could you repeat it?
Template
It’s a feature that allows you to make a copy of an existing chatbot scenario. Templates are helpful when you need to build a complex chatbot flow but you don’t want to start it from scratch.
Context
Context helps your chatbot decide which response should be sent to users based on the context and the information the user provides.
For instance, your chatbot can ask a user if they are looking for a covid test or schedule an appointment, and then display an offer relevant to their response.
Context lets you also show specific info to people who come to your website using a specific URL address. This comes in handy if you want to personalize your chatbot communication.
Contextual codes (formerly known as referral codes)
Contextual codes let you show specific info to people who come to your website using a specific URL address. This comes in handy if you want to personalize your chatbot communication.
Cards
Cards are a one of the most important functionalities of the app. They're located in the bot builder and they allow you to build your flows and showcase your content. Located at the bottom or you can click on the + sign on the right inside the block.
Now let's dive into the different types of cards:
Text card
The text card is your best friend! You will be using this card the most and that's because a conversational AI is mostly well conversational 😉 This card will be used to share text content with your visitors. Some common use cases include: answering FAQs, asking a question, describing next steps, and much more.
Image card
The image card is practical when you want to share an image with the visitor. It could be a product image or even a map.
Quick reply card
Quick replies are short chatbot messages that suggest the visitor a few pre-set possible options. They help users make their decision faster and improve the flow of the conversation.
Carousel card
The carousel card is useful when you need to display to the visitor a few options but in a richer format with more information (image, text, button, and link).
Handover card
Handover is an action that redirects a chatbot user to a live chat agent. It can be triggered when the user’s problem goes beyond the chatbot’s scope.
Delay card
The delay card is a typing delay that enables you to set up how fast your chatbot should respond to user input. It lets you create a more natural flow of conversation. It's particularly useful when you have a few text heavy messages in a row and you want to give the visitor a chance to read every message without being bombarded.
Video card
The video card operates similarly to the image card. It's useful when you want to share rich content with the visitor. It could be a video tour of your facility, a tutorial or anything else that can provide value.
API card
We quickly went over the API definition and this is how you can leverage that technology. The API card allows you to connect to your systems whether it's a CRM, EHR, Yext, insurance coverage, and much much more. This card is the most powerful tool in your arsenal. It allows you to show content dynamically and at scale to personalize the experience.
Attribute card
Attributes can be described as packages including information (e.g., name, email, phone number) a chatbot collects while chatting with a user. Attributes help a chatbot personalize its responses.
Bot: What’s your name? User: Jacob. Bot: Thanks! How can I help you, Jacob?
Go-to card
The Go-to card works in sync with the attributes because it allows you to set custom rules based on attributes.
Let's say a visitor is scheduling an appointment with your conversational AI and in that flow there is a fork (a split into two flows). If the visitor is older than 70 years old or younger than 70 years old, the flow is different because you need to ask an additional question for visitors above 70. If the visitor selects 70+ then you can tag him with an attribute and have the AI ask him the extra question. If the attribute is not populated, the visitor will skip that question.
SetAI card
The SetAI Card allows you to dynamically set attributes in your chatbot based on a prompt that you provide. These attributes get set in real-time on the runtime of each session with your chatbot.