Conversation as interface: The five types of chatbots

Over the years, we have experienced dramatic changes in how we interact with computers. We went from flipping switches to stacking punch cards, typing away on hard copy and now, manipulating objects on a desktop using touch screens. Each transition has provided us with a greater ease of interaction and a new metaphor (switches, direct commands, desktops) for thinking about that interaction. But, advances in speech recognition are completely changing the game. Siri, Cortana, Alexa and Google Now have given us a taste of what it means to directly communicate our goals and needs to the machine.