Conversational artificial intelligence definition

Conversational artificial intelligence

(also conversational AI)

Conversational artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of AI that seeks to simulate real human conversations with machines. Conversational AI uses the principles of natural language processing, machine learning, and speech recognition to understand context and respond to human language.

Conversational AI has been brought to the public attention due to the emergence of complex chatbots and virtual assistants — applications that are capable of answering complex questions or even executing voice commands.

See also: artificial intelligence, deepfake

How conversational AI works

The user provides input in the form of a written or spoken message.
The conversational AI tool cleans this input to reduce noise, remove accents, and otherwise standardize the data.
The AI uses natural language processing to recognize the user’s internet, sentiment, and other relevant information.
After identifying the query’s intent, the system resolves it to specific action — for example, by matching the intent to predefined templates or scripts.
Based on the intent, the information extracted from the message, and its own knowledge database, the AI generates a response.

Conversational AI use cases

Conversational AI has become popular in customer service roles. Chatbots are able to respond instantly to customer queries, directing them to human assistance when they are unable to help.
Virtual shopping assistants help users find the right product and make purchase decisions based on the user’s situation.
In healthcare, AI-driven chatbots can provide medical information, schedule appointments, and offer health advice.
Conversational AI can function as a live interpreter to allow people who speak different languages to communicate in real-time.

Conversational artificial intelligence