How Google's AI paved the way for the next generation of bots

Bots are fast becoming all the rage in tech, offering users the ability to use a messaging app to type in simple English requests to services like Uber. The user interface is just like texting a friend, and it's far simpler to enter a message than to download and use a clunky native app. As more bots and bot platforms like Slack emerge, it's interesting to note that Google has spent almost 20 years perfecting how to respond to a text query. Today's bots have a lot to learn from Google's lessons in natural language interpretation, artificial intelligence, and user interface. The quintessential example of a bot is ordering an Uber on Slack, which is relatively straightforward since Slack on mobile knows where you are.