Hospitality and human instructiveness are essential in connecting with consumers. Few would rather talk to a robot caller to handle their issue than a genuine human being. Additionally, customers typically dislike waiting for a representative for extended periods. And personnel sorting through enormous volumes of calls might produce a massive workload. Conversational AI can be used in a variety of organizations to attend to the needs of specific customers to lessen this issue and increase efficiency.

Chatbots continue to be a hot topic among media, end users and vendor communities. This is no surprise, as chatbot technology -- which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic human conversations -- is beginning to mature and offer more sophisticated solutions. This is primarily because of improved, AI-enabled language capabilities. As a result, more organizations are investing in chatbot development and deployment. In the 2019 Gartner CIO Survey, CIOs identified chatbots as the main AI-based application used in their enterprises.

Choosing a conversational AI platform is a daunting task with a lot of noise and hyperbole surrounding it. Tools for designing and deploying conversational AI applications are getting easier and better, and some have focused their design around user experience. We took our best shot at evaluating and summarizing the list of top platforms that Gartner Research included in their 2019 Market Guide for Conversational Platforms. Gartner evaluated over 1,000 platforms and widdled the market down to 20 top platforms in 2018. In 2019, Gartner narrowed their list to 16 platforms, noting that the majority of today's market is "very simple platforms using modified open-source components to deliver simple question and answer chatbots."

The holiday season is here and there are rafts of new associates manning registers and helping stores handle swarms of shoppers. But how are these associates finding their seasonal roles? Many retailers already use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their recruiting systems for hiring the best and brightest seasonal help. Human resource tasks such as screening and hiring are more efficient and accurate thanks to the AI envisioned a few years ago and in operation today. Nevertheless, landing a good employee is only the first step in making this season a winning year for shopper loyalty, conversions, and same-store sales.

Although science fiction may depict AI robots as the bad guys, some tech giants now employ them for security. Companies like Microsoft and Uber use Knightscope K5 robots to patrol parking lots and large outdoor areas to predict and prevent crime. The robots can read license plates, report suspicious activity and collect data to report to their owners. These AI-driven robots are just one example of "autonomous things," one of the Gartner Top 10 strategic technologies for 2019 with the potential to drive significant disruption and deliver opportunity over the next five years. "The future will be characterized by smart devices delivering increasingly insightful digital services everywhere," said David Cearley, Gartner vice president and Fellow, at Gartner 2018 Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando, Florida.

Conversational AI is a form of Artificial Intelligence that allows people to communicate with applications, websites and devices in everyday, humanlike natural language via voice, text, touch or gesture input. For users it allows fast interaction using their own words and terminology. For enterprises it offers a way to build a closer connection with customers through personalized interaction and receive an unprecedented amount of vital business information in return. The last eighteen months have seen no abatement in the demand for conversational AI platforms and predictions from major analyst firms shows the trend is set to continue strongly in 2018. But throughout this, there is an underlying message; enterprises need to deploy conversational platforms that are capable of truly understanding the customer--however they phrase the question.

NLP, or natural language processing, is often involved in industry use of chat-bots. We've all had experiences with chat-bots that auto-regulates our daily processes, but the potential for these chat-bots to exceed their current functions are still in rapid development. NLP enables conversational experiences with users in the form of chat-bots and virtual assistants. This experience can be through the mediums of messaging platforms, SMS, pop-up chats, or anything that utilizes smart responses. The conversational platform's API is often outfitted with the proper tools to bring about a desired speech.

Solvvy's innovative AI-powered conversational platform enables effortless support interactions between businesses and customers Solvvy, a conversational platform powered by AI, announced today that Aragon Research, Inc. has named the company a 2018 Hot Vendor in Conversational AI1. Solvvy was selected based on its advanced AI and NLP technology and the measurable impact of cost savings and quality of service it delivers to its fast-growing customer base that includes leading brands such as Under Armour, SoundCloud, Weebly, and Atlassian. "Solvvy's advanced self-service capabilities and conversational platform can be put into production with minimal effort and immediately begin solving customer issues," said Jim Lundy, CEO and Lead Analyst at Aragon Research, Inc. "They provide fast time-to-value while improving the overall customer experience." According to the report, "Self-service is becoming accepted and pervasive across industries and roles: From supermarkets and big-box stores to online shopping, people are becoming accustomed to less interaction with human help. They are discovering that they can check out faster, find better answers, or explore new ideas more easily and less expensively if they control the processes themselves."

By Atul Batra, Manthan The words "Beam me up, Scotty" created an indelible memory in my mind over thirty years ago. Never before would have anyone imagined that in as many years the world would be ushering in an era of artificial intelligence powered conversational platforms for business. As a teenager growing up with the sci-fi television series "Star Trek" I was fascinated with Captain Kirk saying the lines ".....to boldly go where no one has gone before." Such powerful portrayal of the future played a part in inspiring me to go after computer sciences as a specialization in college. All those years of dreaming, and now the association with analytics and AI, have led to one absolute reality that in the short span of perhaps 18 to 24 months a wide variety of businesses globally will be working with algorithmic powered conversational platforms that serve as intelligent business advisors.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning(ML) are jointly contributing to the gradual build-up of the "Intelligent Digital Mesh" so candidly described in Gartner's Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2018. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have been forecasted to be the game-changers of the coming decade. Most of the tech trends discussed really fall under the umbrella field of Data Science, as they directly or indirectly affect Data Management. However, some specific innovations like Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), or Digital Twins also indicate hardware enhancements and overlapping of the physical and digital worlds. In a blog post tiled Forrester's Top Emerging Technologies To Watch: 2017-2021, Forrester made strong assertions about an impending disruptive technology world, where suddenly an avalanche of ground-breaking digital technologies such as mobile, social, Big Data, Cloud, IoT, Ai, and ML will all emerge and converge to turn the global businesses upside down.