AI Chatbots in WordPress Development

by Vipe Team in WordPress Development; Published on 21.12.2022 Last updated on 26.05.2023

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What a time to be alive! Our Enterprise WordPress Agency for Development has always shown interest and excitement when it comes to innovation, development and taking a giant leap forward to the future of technologies – so it’s no wonder we decided to discuss the topic of AI chatbots in WordPress development.

Just think about it – the majority of our Millenial readers out there probably vividly remember the time when movies about artificial intelligence broke loose and managed to enter our screens, leaving us in complete awe and admiration. Who knew that just several years later we’d all be witnessing all those scripts slowly turning into reality with AI’s ever-skyrocketing development?

Artificial Intelligence is huge right now – we witness its usage in spheres like transportation, finance, health care, manufacturing and education. Above all, it already has its roots planted in the field of web development – just imagine how improved this technology could become once it benefits from the professionalism and outside-of-the-box way of thinking of developers, designers and engineers.

AI chatbots

As our Enterprise WordPress Agency for Development is eager more than ever before to witness what awaits us in the future, we decided it’s about time we cover the topic of the specific yet incredibly popular usage of AI – we are referring to AI chatbots and in today’s article we’ll try our best to tell you all about this catchy and incredibly useful trend in web development.

Let’s begin!

What Is Artificial Intelligence and How Does It Enter Our Daily Lives?

In a nutshell, Artificial Intelligence is intelligence demonstrated by machines with its main goal being to mimic human intelligence with its never-ending capabilities. In a broader sense it could be said that AI serves as human intelligence simulation – developers and engineers believe that with constant development and improvements machine intelligence can successfully mimic human’s cognitive abilities starting from the most basic of tasks to far more complex and human-like operations.

Since AI’s main goal is to be able to come to terms with human intelligence, it’s safe to say that some of its main characteristics include computer-enhanced learning mechanisms (specifically taught through human interaction), reasoning, perception and complex cognitive processes.

What Are the Types of AI We Witness In Today’s World of Constant Technology Development?

Our Enterprise WordPress Agency for Development is mesmerized with the development technology has reached up until now. And while many researchers suggest the rising of AI could potentially cause threats to humans, we choose to simply focus on its numerous positive aspects for now.

Technological improvements have made possible different aspects of AI’s existence. Before we get to the topic of AI chatbots, let’s first quickly go over some of artificial intelligence’s most frequent uses in today’s world. We’ve already mentioned that AI finds ground in numerous fields and spheres of our daily lives – we have no reason to believe this tendency is about to end any time soon.

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AI that is simple and one-task-oriented is what we call weak AI – think virtual assistants or games where the user requests a single task at a time and the AI manages to come up with a quick response;
Strong AI, on the other hand, features more complex operations and near human-like cognitive possibilities – the key aspect here is that strong AI doesn’t necessarily require human interference since the software is designed in a way that can take and implement rather autonomous choices and decisions, based on previously designed and developed scenarios and situations;

Further from this rather superficial comparison, nowadays we also distinguish 4 types of artificial intelligence, all of which show promising results and deserve a designated place for themselves in the world of technological enhancement: We are referring to reactive, limited memory, theory of mind and self-aware types of AI.

Reactive AI

Reactive AI is probably the most basic of types: in a nutshell, its goal is to present a predictable output based on already well-established input. Think of situations, machines or software that always provide the same result whenever they come across similar and already played out situations. Examples of Reactive AI include our email spam filters or our favorite streaming services recommendations listicles.

Limited Memory AI

This type of AI is more advanced than the Reactive type. Its purpose is to predict certain situations and outcomes based on gathering data and knowledge of past experiences. As of today, the Limited Memory AI is broadly used – think of autonomous vehicles for example where through careful reading and examining data from its surroundings, the artificial intelligence can successfully predict and evaluate the traffic situation. Even though it seems extraordinary, there is still much improvement needed before we, as humans, feel safe enough to count entirely on Limited Memory AI in our daily lives. Some of its shortcomings come from the fact that, as its name suggests, it fails to store long-term data.

Theory of Mind AI

Now, our Enterprise WordPress Agency for Development assumes this type of AI is what probably everyone thinks of whenever they hear the word “artificial intelligence”.

The Theory of Mind AI is destined to be able to communicate with humans as it’s supposed to be recognizing emotions and even mimic ones. Imagine being able to talk to a robot but not in the sense of ordering commands but more like engaging in a conversation. Those “cognitive” abilities are still a work in progress but we have every reason to believe that in the near future we’ll witness even greater development.

Self-Aware AI

This is by far the most advanced AI concept and, as its name suggests, its main goal would be to be aware of its existence, emotions, decision-making and overall conceptions of its surroundings. We are talking about a human-like level of development here – as of today, this technological leap is about to be made but it would likely change the way we perceive artificial intelligence as a whole.

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Artificial Intelligence, Chatbots and Web Development

Once we’ve covered the very basics when it comes to artificial intelligence types and usage, it’s time to direct our attention to an AI aspect that’s been already widely used in web development. We are referring to AI chatbots.

What Is a Chatbot?

A chatbot is software that aims at engaging in conversations (both written and verbal) with users. Usually, they are the predecessor of a real-life agent who takes upon the communication.

Having in mind the technological development in recent years, our Enterprise WordPress Agency for Development is not at all surprised that we are widely using chatbots today in the digital world. As businesses are creating a place for themselves in the online world, the implementation of newer and more advanced technologies is the only logical way to go.

AI chatbots are an essential part of web development since enterprises, businesses and e-commerce platforms definitely opt for including such software.

Imagine you are at home, comfortably tuning in for another movie night when you suddenly realize your favorite streaming platform has no service. Long gone are the days when we had nothing else to do besides waiting for things to turn back to normal; nowadays we are quick to find a solution to our problems.

So you immediately enter the streaming platform’s website to be quickly welcomed by the chatbot – the software communicates with you: it says “hi”, asks what can it do to help you and continues with tech-oriented questions in order to determine what appears to be the source of your problem. Then the system automatically transfers you to a human agent with whom you can thoroughly discuss the apparent issue.

Yep, that’s how convenient chatbots are. Besides, they can be virtually used in any type of website or application, regardless of the business niche.

What Are the Most Frequently-Used Types of Chatbots?

In general, chatbots are grouped into two categories, based on their initial software development features:

The “set guidelines” AI chatbot – those types of AI chatbots work with previously set guidelines, programming transcripts and vocabulary. It can respond to a limited number of requests based on predestined scripted situations. A good example of this type of chatbot is the above-mentioned streaming platform’s service or a banking chatbot – their job is to ask the user a set number of questions in order to determine the next action. Of course, all those limitations (for example the chatbot not being able to understand all types of user queries) tend to make businesses and enterprises turn toward the other type.
The Machine Learning AI Chatbot – Machine Learning has been indeed quite splendid since it managed to drastically change the way people interact with websites. Thank to ML, platforms are able to provide personalized and specifically tailored content and services to users based on their previous experiences, liking and needs. Machine Learning AI Chatbots work by self-teaching and constant self-improving – the more people interact with a certain AI chatbot, the more it manages to get better and better in the communication, understanding and engaging departments.

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AI Chatbots – Pros and Cons

Much like with every other thing, AI chatbots as well face both pros and cons.

Among the pros, we witness aspects of usage like lower costs for businesses than employing human workers, easier and faster requests solution, 24/7 availability rate and serving as a great and handy marketing tool.

On the other hand, there are also cons – not every chatbot is developed enough to understand every user request, there is still room for improvement in the personalization department, chatbots lack emotional expressions and sometimes their software maintenance could be quite tricky.

Even though the cons are nowhere near to be neglected, chances are the industry will continue improving and developing this AI feature since it already shows promising results and anticipated usage. Who knows, perhaps in time we’ll be able to witness an AI Chatbot so advanced that people won’t be able to find the difference between a real human being and the software. Peculiar, yet exciting, isn’t it?

AI Chatbots in the Context of WordPress Development

The biggest and most used CMS in the world already powers more than 40% of websites worldwide. Our Enterprise WordPress Agency for Development is happy to announce that WordPress is already doing its best to implement AI Chatbots and technology in its ecosystem.

Since chatbots are present in numerous types of websites from enterprise platforms to WooCommerce shops, it’s only logical for the CMS to welcome AI Chatbots. In the WordPress Plugin Repository users and developers can find numerous chatbot plugins that are easy to install, do not require any coding and can be effortlessly managed from the dashboard.

If you’re interested in exploring some of the best WordPress chatbot plugins, our Enterprise WordPress Agency for Development strongly suggests you take a look at this handy Zendesk listicle right here. We’re sure you’ll find software that is just about right.

AI Chatbots Are Definitely Here to Stay – Immerse Yourself in the Future Today

Even though there are still features that need development and additional improvements, it’s safe to say that chatbots are already doing impeccable work in terms of bringing people and technology closer than ever.

Our Enterprise WordPress Agency for Development can’t wait to witness the very next chatbot leveling-up journey – who knew that in our lifetime we’d be able to talk to a machine in a similar way that we interact with our peers? Till we wait in awe for the next spectacular AI chatbot breakthrough, we suggest you go for a stroll and engage in a conversation with a chatbot online – it’s definitely worth the fun and problem-solving.