SMB Toolkit: How Chatbots Can Transform Your Business

One important distinction to make is that chatbots are not full-blown virtual assistants like Alexa, Cortana, or Siri. The distinction between a text- or voice-based chat interface is less important than the scope of where digital assistants live and what they do for a user as opposed to the more narrow focus of a chatbot. Virtual assistants are omnipresent AI helpers embedded within our smartphones, Bluetooth speakers, operating systems (OSes), and other computing environments, offering predictive recommendations and performing a wide range of evolving functions. Chatbots, for the most part, live within a single app or messaging interface, and can be programmed more simply with a selection of automated actions for specific business tasks.