The State of Chatbots 2017

There are two kinds of people: Those who aren't sure what a chatbot is, and those who are really tired of hearing about them. Last year, 2016, was the year that chatbots -- software programs that converse with humans in a human language, such as English or Chinese, rather than through a graphic interface or via computer-language commands -- were widely talked up as the Future of Technology. Facebook's April 2016 announcement of support for chatbots in its Messenger system for one-on-one communications was largely resposible for what can only be described as hype around what chatbots would soon be doing for all of us. The chatbots that debuted with Facebook's launch were comically disappointing, but as a VentureBeat reporter quipped, "Facebook could announce they found a new recipe for blueberry pancakes and people would pay attention. We were off to the races."