Natural language processing drives conversational AI trends

Chatbots and conversational agents were some of the first AI applications to be developed -- MIT professor Joseph Weizenbaum created ELIZA in 1964 as a way to test the progression of realistic machine-to-human conversational interactions. Chatbots have evolved significantly from these early days but still are primarily text- or voice-based applications that respond back and forth to humans engaging in natural language dialogue. Within the last decade, companies have looked to apply these chatbots and conversational interfaces to a wide range of applications: from customer support and assistant-enabled commerce to new interfaces in automobiles and devices. Conversational interfaces reduce the complexity of the interface, provides constant service and support and feels more natural for human interaction. Simply put, people like to talk more than click or swipe.