Editor's note: The development of artificial intelligence technology is constantly changing the way people live and work. There is no doubt that it promotes social development and progress to a certain extent. But artificial intelligence is not omnipotent because machines do not have human thinking and emotions. When you open the online help window on the website and find that the answer you receive is just a cold robot, you may be very disappointed.

In April 2016, Mark Zuckerberg described a bright future for Messenger developers at Facebook's F8 conference and announced a new era of "chatting with bots like you would with friends." Developers around the world, with certifications from big companies like Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, are claiming that the era of standalone mobile apps is over and celebrating the arrival of new ways to do it — Conversational Commerce and Chatbots. Eleven months ago, Facebook announced that its officially developed chatbot "M" had an AI failure rate of 70% in beta tests. It then updated its platform and recommended that developers develop more lightweight applications in Messenger while disabling conversational input.

There are two things we've always known about Wordhop.io. The first thing is that AI is really difficult, and it will take many years before robots can communicate with humans 100% like friends. After all, robots can't empathize in the same way humans can. Second, Facebook consumers don’t message a business because they want to make a purchase or are interested in the weather. These experiences are prerequisite for chatbots and also require the support of industry data that has expanded from the field of information delivery to the field of social networking.

What Facebook users really want is to get quick responses from businesses when they have questions.

The main reason why consumers message businesses on Facebook is to obtain services. Everything else is just a cloud. Such interactive pre-sales may start with questions from customers, and timely responses can advance the transaction. If a customer contacts sales customer service, it's usually because they have a real problem and need help from customer service. Some answers can be answered by robots, while more complex questions can be left to humans. With the right tools, humans can respond as quickly as robots.

However, instead of focusing on the most in-demand segments, many bot developers seek to create new user experiences or reinvent and upgrade old chatbot concepts. If bot developers feel that engagement rates are low, it may not be because the AI ​​is failing, but because they are leading consumers down a path they never wanted to take in the first place. Rather than leveraging existing consumer behavior patterns or training robots to respond to customer needs, the role of AI is simply to realize the creative experience imagined by robot developers and guide consumers to interact through that experience.

Facebook now recommends bot developers disable conversational input entirely.

I personally do not believe that disabling chat input, as Facebook suggests, is the right solution to the technical limitations of AI and NLP. Communication bots without conversational capabilities are acceptable for news bots, where the experience is driven by notifications and content consumption. However, if it is a service-based business, you need to provide a platform for users to interact with you in a friendly manner. If text input is the primary method of communication in Messenger, then it limits the customer's willingness and agency to communicate, forces them to seek customer service in every other way imaginable, or simply delays responses and further frustrates the customer. Think of an IVR, where you press "0" a few times each time you listen to the menu options.

The business world should adopt a combination of automated and manual methods to meet the needs of Facebook users.

China's WeChat mini-programs are integrated with message interaction, which meets developers' expectations for chatbots. However, this is an Eastern cultural phenomenon, and Western companies should first make use of existing consumer behavior and make better use of such behavioral data. If you are not a fan of the concept that "chatbots will replace human services" and just stick to the promise you made to customers when you opened your business, then introducing such technology can help you strengthen communication with customers. If you can meet the expectations of Facebook consumers today, then over time you can add new features and lead consumers in the direction you expect. You will most likely end up meeting their needs.