A chatbot is software which a person can talk to via a chat interface. It is possible to chat with the bot via text or voice, and it can perform various tasks without any involvement from a human.
The chatbot can thus simulate human conversation, and it is possible to communicate with such a chatbot via a website or in applications and messaging services.
The word ‘chatbot’ comes from ‘chat’ and ‘bot’, as in ‘robot’. In this context, robot is often referred to as ‘artificial intelligence’ or AI. Of famous chatbots, you may have heard of Siri (Apple), Alexa (Amazon) and Google Assistant.
There are basically two types of chatbots on the market – either with or without artificial intelligence. Chatbots without artificial intelligence are based on a set of rules and predefined commands. They can only respond to specific tasks. Chatbots based on machine learning and artificial intelligence are able to understand complex requests and gradually improve the quality of their responses.
Cegal has its own Chatbot called Elivia. Elivia is an expert in the energy industry and is integrated with numerous systems, which ensure that she is very knowledgeable. As a result, Elivia is able to automate many tasks which would otherwise have to be done manually by employees, such as ordering a power subscription, updating billing addresses, providing information, and so on.