When AI Chatbots Attack: What You Need to Know About the Struggle to Program Empathy - Converge.XYZ

Love them or hate them, you'd better be prepared for these technologies to power the future of the B2B sales process. First, though, there are a few kinks that need to be worked out--or manners to be worked in, however you want to look at it. Don't think so? Don't be so quick to forget Microsoft's chatbot Tay, the millennial-esque chatbot that became the opposite of chill when it sent out a barrage of offensive, racist tweets back in March. What was the result of malicious hacking (and a sad ending for Tay) raised real questions that take far more than 140 snarky characters to answer: Can chatbots be both empowered to provide customer service and still be sensitive to human emotions? Some in the industry, like the co-founder of machine-learning startup Koko, say yes. The company is working to add empathy as a service to its chatbot-human interactions.