VentureBeat’s Bots Channel tracks all the important and interesting news related to the exploding field of bots and messaging. And each week we select the top stories and present them in in our free weekly newsletter, BotBeat. We include news stories by VentureBeat staff, guest articles from leading figures in the bots community and a good number of posts from a wide variety of outlets. You can subscribe to our BotBeat newsletter to receive this information in your inbox every Thursday.
Here’s this week’s newsletter:
We begin this week by reaching into the archives to share a video you may have missed, in which MZ boss Gabe Leydon breaks down how bots run New Zealand’s transportation.
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In more recent top bot stories, we know chatbots will have a significant impact on the workplace, good and bad.
Accountants are great, lawyers too, and journalists? I really like journalists, but they’re all on their way out, said Felicia Schneiderhan of 30secondstofly in this piece about 10 jobs that will disappear due to artificial intelligence and chatbots.
On the other end of the jobs spectrum, The Guardian explored automation chatbots that free up workers from time-consuming, repetitive tasks.
Chatbot pioneer Next IT has enabled personal assistants made with its Alme platform to join Facebook Messenger, Twilio, or Alexa. That’s sort of a dull statement, but it means Amtrak, Alaska Airlines, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, and some of the biggest health care providers in the U.S. can put their bots on open platforms.
Chatbot Magazine editor Matt Schlicht shared some of his favorite new chatbots, like mental health bot Joy and period tracker Bearhug, in the first installment of what will be a continuing series on VentureBeat.
For the bot makers out there, Robin Chan of Operator has tips for how to make bots that combine human know-how with artificial intelligence, and Keith Armstrong of personal finance bot Abe.ai shares psychological rules to follow when building a bot.
From the Bots Channel
10 jobs that A.I. and chatbots are poised to eventually replace
If you’re a web designer, you’ve been warned. Now there is an A.I. that can do your job.
Why the U.S. government, Alaska Airlines, and Amtrak may soon launch Facebook chatbots
Next IT announced that bots created with its Alme platform can now join the popular chat app platforms.
5 chatbots you should try this week: Joy, Pokémon Go, and more
Ever since Facebook announced their chatbots platform at their developers conference earlier this year, the number of chatbots in the world has increased dramatically.
5 psychological rules you should follow when building a bot
B.J. Fogg is a behavioral scientist who has written extensively about how computer products influence people.
3 tips for creating a human and A.I.-powered chatbot
In the past, commerce was always about two people trading with each other — a truly human experience.
Lunch preorder startup Allset now on Facebook Messenger
Allset allows people to eat at high-end, fast-casual, and other types of restaurants within 5 minutes of arrival.
Beyond BotBeat
Why and how chatbots will dominate social media
At its core, social media has remained a platform to facilitate human-to-human communication. But then the robots moved in. (via TechCrunch)
Interactive chatbot lets you speak in real-time with a World War I soldier
News Corp Australia has launched a chatbot on Facebook Messenger that allows users to interact with Tasmanian soldier Archie Barwick, who fought in World War I. (via Mashable)
Are chatbots liberating workers?
Small businesses say they have more time to focus on ideas and problem solving thanks to new forms of artificial intelligence that handle the drudgery. (via The Guardian)
10 Facebook Bots Actually Worth Chatting With
The easiest way to find new bots on Facebook is through Botlist (the site also covers chatbots on other platforms like Slack as well). (via Gizmodo)
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