Chatbots should be experts, not virtual assistants

The introduction of Amazon Echo and Google Home is helping the Chatbot crossover into the mainstream, heralding a new era for the technology. However, while they have grand ambitions of offering 360-degree personal assistant support to consumers, the current limits of the technology mean they still fall short of being able to complete more complex tasks. Sure, Alexa and Siri can tell you the weather, play your favourite Spotify playlist, search the internet on your behalf, and manage your diary – but ask them to book you a ticket on the next train home, order an Uber, or tell you your bank balance and they're stumped. First off, most chatbots are designed to be generalists, offering support on a wide range of tasks faster and cheaper than a human executive assistant. The problem is that these'virtual assistants' don't have access to the information they need for the provision of more complex support.