Chatbots: What can they do and why is everyone talking about them?

With technology pioneers Facebook and Microsoft both throwing their multibillion hats into the chatbot ring, it is safe to say the dawn of the bot is upon us. But "what is a chatbot?" we hear you confusedly cry. Well, you're going to hear a lot of noise about them and while the name might explain a lot, let us clear up the many unanswered questions of what they're for, how they work and whether they're the harbinger of the inevitable robopocalypse. In basic terms, a chatbot is a rudimentary form of artificial intelligence software that can converse with humans to answer questions or simply natter to us in as lifelike a manner as possible. The scope and complexity of a chatbot is determined by the creator's algorithmic aptitude.