Live From WEF17: Artificial Intelligence: Balancing Opportunity and Responsibility - YouTube

This is a video, not an article. But interesting to see how heavily AI-focused Davos is this year, and how deliberately they’re dealing with the issue of AI potentially driving job displacement and, ultimately, impacting the world economy. We agree heavily with what Paul Daugherty, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer of Accenture, says regarding AI augmenting humans, not replacing them. But maybe not if the super creepy Hanson Robotics guy has anything to do with it… 😱

3 ways to make people love your chatbot

So we agree with the first (clear, single purpose) and the second (personalized after the bot learns a bit about you). But we’re so-so on the third (speak the same language): you don't want it all to be yes/no questions, but the author implies you should reserve widgets like quick replies only for the most significant decisions, which in turns means that bot is pretending to be too human-ish. Which we fundamentally disagree with. Separately, the author is the Founder of Narvar, our B2B business crush. Super smart, simple product. They’re crushing it. 💖

On bots, language and making technology disappear

A look into the design of a chatbot--and specifically the role of “personality” or personification. Written by the Content Strategist at Intercom from the perspective of building an Intercom bot, she talks about how the bot got a more negative response from users when it had a name vs. when it didn’t. Also goes into the nuances between text and voice and the expectations of humanity in each. More and more evidence that the bot builders aren’t developers only. They’re humans first, designers, experts in human interactions. Makes us happy about our platform, Reply.ai--code free so those that know the subject matter the best can be at the helm of bot creation.

Why AI must be redefined as 'augmented intelligence'

A look at the role of AI in cybersecurity. And by role we mean critical need (according to this article). Bots aren’t taking jobs, they’re giving the humans with the jobs superpowers--something they desperately need to combat the  nefarious and enormous threat to cybersecurity. We like the “augmented Intelligence” term as a means to dispel misconceptions around AI and its role in the workforce of the not-so-distant future.

MissioBot - Pope Francis's Bot

This is really stirring. The leader of the Catholic Church is truly reaching out and trying to make a difference--both in the perception of the Church, and in the actions it’s trying to provoke via the bot (donations to charities, etc.). Feels genuine and personal and like an organization in desperate need of change is doing just that--changing. 🙏

Boy Bye Bot

Well isn’t this nice. The Rejection Line of yore, now as a bot. Reminds of the first product by Reply founding team members, Clara & Erica, KillSwitch. Bravo.

Design is all Talk: Conversational UIs Impact on Brands - interaction17

February 5, 2017 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM

This free half-day workshop is sponsored by R/GA and featuring Reply.ai. In this session, we will discuss the latest trends in Conversational UIs, the technology landscape and what it means for XD? We will provide hands-on practice on how to take a concept into a working prototype using Reply.ai and Alexa, exploring text, voice and graphical inputs. And have a little SuperBowl Sunday Fun!