AI-powered chatbots

AI chatbots are increasingly common and useful nowadays. Using a train ticket-booking chatbot as an example, here are 4 simple steps to build an AI chatbot:

1. Define the nature of the conversation Identify the goal of building the chatbot, what it can do and possible scenarios.
2. Gather relevant data To book a train ticket, the chatbot needs to know the user’s personal information, departure point and time, destination and train schedules.

3. Construct conversation flowchart A normal conversation flowchart should be like this: the user asks for the chatbot to book a train ticket, the chatbot asks for trip details, user replies and chatbot books the required ticket. Other foreseeable situations should also be included, e.g. chatbot requires clarification of the task, user requests change of departure date, etc.

4. Test, run and improve the system The chatbot system can be continuously improved by training with data sets to optimize the user experience.