What the Researchers and Businesses Predict for Technology for 2019
December is always a fun time as the tech press and industry look forward to the next big thing, or a small thing that could make a huge difference. This roundup takes a look at the most common and outlier trends that IT needs to be prepared for in the new year. Bust or boom for blockchain The big news is that almost everyone is down on blockchain as 2018 ends and cryptocurrencies continue to take a hammering. However, now the golden egg is laid to rest and speculators look elsewhere, 2019 will be a good time for beneficial blockchain use cases to start showing their stuff. Inc.com reckons “Blockchain in the B2B world has been all hype with no significant transaction volume, but there are signs that this will change in 2019. To deal with cash flow, financing, settlements, and other ways of sharing value at scale, you need
The Rise of AI in Consumer Hardware and Services to “God Mode” Assistants
Smartphones are finally getting smart with AI chips inside them to drive improved virtual assistants, imaging and other applications. Processors are being sold with massive amounts of AI-based processing power, and there’s still all the power of the cloud to drive AI apps, allowing any business to make products and services genuinely smarter. After years of tinkering around the edges, 2018 saw the arrival of some real AI power in consumer hardware. Yes, we already use AI a lot, in search, navigation and image processing, all invisible to the user. But, this marks the transition of AI from an enterprise toy for services or better business decisions to democratizing that power to enable better virtual assistants, chatbots, and casual features from even-better-looking photographs to improved predictive text and other benefits. In January, the CES Show taking place in Las Vegas will tout endless products as having AI from fridges to
5 Chatbot Strategies for Success
As more positive success stories and use cases emerge, and the general buzz around chatbots continues to grow. Businesses are lining up to launch a bot that can have an impact on their customer satisfaction, the bottom line and help improve their efficiency. Here are five ways to keep those early projects on track and reaching for the best result. We see daily new launches for chatbots, and growing numbers of success stories. One of the latest is from mobile operator Vodafone, who’s TOBi chatbot in one month has helped reduce the time for customers to check out by almost half on average, while doubling conversion rates, improving brand scores and more. That’s big savings and a revenue boost, driving other telcos, medical practices, colleges and all types of businesses to get on the chatbot bandwagon. While that level of success requires time and investment, chatbots remain a tool that
Using Chat Interface for Mental Health Interventions
Conversations via instant messaging interfaces (also known as “chats”) are generating more and more interest in mental health care. A study even shows that it has equivalent results to “treatment as usual”, so they might be added to mental health doctors’ toolkit. Indeed, this approach offers two significant benefits over face-to-face interventions (although obviously, the latter have other qualities), that I will explain to you right now. First, it allows the patient, in the event that he or she feels more comfortable with a machine than with a human interlocutor, to exchange serenely, at his or her own pace and in the desired way, with the practitioner. This may be appropriate in cases where the person being treated has been abused by other human beings and is therefore reluctant to trust another human being, especially if it is to treat the abuse in question, or in cases where oral communication
How to Make a Better Chatbot in 2019
Chatbots are fast becoming a familiar sight on websites and social media for brands, businesses, and their customers. But, this fast-developing technology is not an area for developers to rest on their laurels, even a successful bot could, and should, be improved for the new year. If your business lacks a chatbot on your Facebook Messenger feed, website or app, now is definitely the time to start. Bots have rapidly moved on from a curio and niche customer service contact point to a battle-proven feature that more users expect and the latest stats show even the more cynical of consumers are starting to trust, respect and rely on. If you started on the chatbot wave back in 2016 or more recently. Congratulations, you were ahead of the curve. But, not for long, chatbots are moving at a fast pace and people are expecting them to offer more than the simple
Tech Trends That Will Change the World in 2019
We used to view technology trends as singular events, but increasingly they intermingle and rely on each other. So, the prominent discrete business IT trends for next year – autonomy, AI, blockchain and analytics – all have some crossover. They will impact businesses of all size as the Internet of Things, everything-as-a-service and automated interactions start to take on real significance, driving changes that consumers and citizens will all notice. Technologies trending together Think back 10-odd years ago to Steve Jobs on the Apple stage, saying “today, we’re introducing three revolutionary new products, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough Internet communicator.” Those three things turned out to be the singular iPhone and the rest is history. Since then, smartphones have added GPS, navigation, advanced networking, better cameras, virtual assistants, AR and VR and much more, increasingly powered by smart software and AI. As
Chatbots Helping to Make Your World a Better Place
Chatbots are rapidly spreading out of the customer service and business sector into personal health, self-improvement, charity, and environmental markets. Who better to ask how you can help improve your wellbeing or save the planet than a chatbot? A few years ago, every piece of advice came in the form of a flyer or pamphlet, easily lost, and often hard to interpret or relate to any particular question you had. Over time that advice has moved into FAQs, apps or other ways that businesses, charities, and authorities use to communicate. However, most people often find that the one question they have isn’t the one that gets answered or lacks detail. Any chatbot that simply replicates the original data and questions won’t improve the situation. But a smart chatbot that can expand on a known topic or subject area will help people get the information they need faster than other methods.
Chatbots: What are they and how will they change the world?
It is easy to overlook that as we go about our daily lives, technology subtly changes how we all work, live, socialise and interact with businesses. Thirty years ago, the Internet was a curious new gimmick, today – try living life without it. Or, the connected cloud services like banks and online working that live through it. Twenty years ago, people went to concerts and joined in, now they share grainy footage with awful audio on social media, so pros and cons! Progress is inevitable, and among the regular waves of new technology and services changing how businesses and people interact, communicate and get things done; chatbots, virtual assistants and AI are on an unstoppable surge into our lives. But where did this technology come from? Does it really work, and how will it affect us in the near future? A potted history of chatbots The first official chatbots date
Chatbots Will Save Billions In The Banking & Finance Industries
Major advances in the efficiency of chatbots, and the trust placed in them by the users will save companies billions of dollars in the future
5 New and Improved Use Cases for Chatbots in 2019
After just a few short years, chatbots are moving out from the fertile feeding grounds of customer service to more business-focused uses. Check out where a bot will be helping your business in 2019 and beyond.
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