What are the differences between bots and robots?
According to Wikipedia, they are both machines. In reality, however, their functions are quite different from each other.
Robots are typical to perform complex tasks such as welding and painting. They also monitor production processes and take action accordingly.
On the other hand, chatbots are artificial intelligence (AI) applications that interact with customers via messaging platforms.
Unlike robots, these chatbots can handle simple customer requests such as ordering food or booking travel tickets.
Chatbots vs. Robotics
1. Chatbots interact with customers while robots do not.
2. Robots typically perform complex tasks, while chatbots handle requests such as requesting a taxi and making hotel reservations.
3. Robots are neat in manufacturing, while chatbots are for customer service, sales, and marketing.
4. Robots are often controlled by humans, while chatbots can be activated and deactivated at will by their owners.
5. The technology behind robots is difficult to build and is often expensive, while there are many easy-to-build chatbot services available online.
6. Robots tend to be for specific functions, while chatbots can perform a wider range of tasks. Further, based on their programming and the capabilities of the messaging platform they are in.
7. The word ‘robot’ comes from a 1920 play entitled ‘R.U.R.’ by Czech writer, Karel Capek (1890-1938). In the play, robots were as artificial humans that were created by another species of aliens called ‘robots.’ The word has come to mean machines that look like humans and can perform complex tasks without human intervention over time.
More on the differences
8. The word ‘chatbot’ was first used in 1966 in the book ‘The Magic Machine,’ a collection of fantasy stories for children written by Isaac Asimov (1920-1992). The term became famous by computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum (1923-2008) in his 1976 book ‘Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation.’
9. In 2016, Facebook Messenger introduced chatbot services on its platform allowing users to converse with brands through bots instead of human representatives or customer service agents. This was a major breakthrough for businesses that had previously relied solely on human interaction for customer support.
10 . The competition among businesses has also led to the development of more advanced bot services that can answer a wide range of questions related to finance and travel. These bots can also help companies provide better customer service at lower costs.
11. Robots can only do what they are programmed to do. While chatbots can learn new tasks and improve their performance as they interact with customers.
12. Soon, robots may be useful in other industries such as healthcare and agriculture. The use of robots in farming may reduce food production costs and help farmers increase their profits.
Unlike Siri and Alexa, a chatbot is not capable of carrying out multiple tasks at once. It also cannot perform tasks that require complex thinking.
What Is A Robotic Process Automation?
Robotic process automation (RPA) is an implementation of technology that allows companies to execute repetitive tasks at a lower cost than before using a technology known as intelligent process automation (IPA).
Robots or RPA bots are software applications that automate customer service processes or manufacturing tasks by performing repetitive operations without human intervention. Instead of programming these bots to follow pre-defined rules, RPA bots rely on machine learning algorithms.
What Is Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a field that involves the study and development of computer systems capable of performing tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making and translation between languages.
In 1966, a professor at MIT developed the first chatbot program called Eliza. Eliza was designed to mimic human conversation using pattern matching algorithms. Soon after its release, programmers all over the world wrote new programs that could mimic human conversation more closely than Eliza could. These programs were collectively known as chatterbots.