Organizations use chatbots for many different purposes: customer service agents, HR onboarding agents, application agents, and so on.
However, not all chatbots are created equal. At SimplyAsk, we categorize chatbots into two types: structured chatbots and generative chatbots .
But what exactly is the difference? And what should your organization pick for its needs? We’ll go over both of those points in this article.
What Are Structured Chatbots? Structured chatbots are the simplest chatbot type. They work based on a list of ordered steps defined by the chatbot’s developer.
What does that mean? Most chatbot software will come with an editor and a step library . A step library provides a collection of actions that the chatbot can do (e.g. ask the user a question, prompt them for an answer, do the following action, process the information the user provides). Your organization can create a chatbot by taking some of these steps and putting them in a specific order that the chatbot will then execute.
For example, by creating an series of ordered steps, you can create a chatbot that executes the following steps:
Chatbot greets the user Chatbot asks how they can help from a predefined list of questions Chatbot takes in user information based on their query Chatbot processes it and fulfills the user query Chatbot redirects them to a human agent if they are unable to fulfill the query Structured chatbots are useful in automating the handling of simple requests . If you know exactly what kinds of queries your users will be asking (and what actions your organization needs to fulfill to meet their needs), you can create a structured chatbot that can handle them. This means designing and ordering the steps, as well as prewriting questions, answers, and other dialogue.
However, a major disadvantage of structured chatbots is that they are inherently limited by:
The number of queries they can feasibly answer Their lack of information Organizations can forecast most inquiries that users will have – but they can’t forecast all of them. If your chatbot can respond to five different query types but a user asks a sixth different query, your chatbot will immediately default to directing the user to a human agent. This can be frustrating to users and defeats one of the main perks of a chatbot: reducing human involvement so employees have more time and mental bandwidth to focus on other tasks.
What Are Generative Chatbots? Generative chatbots are the upgrade to structured chatbots. While they also function using ordered steps, generative chatbots leverage generative AI to enhance their capabilities.
By using generative AI, generative chatbots gain the following powerful features:
The ability to organically and intelligently respond to user prompts through natural language processing (NLP), with communication boundaries set by the organization The ability to be trained on a knowledge base , allowing it to disperse information and make rudimentary decisions based on user prompts (e.g. training a chatbot on HR policies and procedures, allowing it to act as an onboarding and offboarding agent) The ability to flexibly respond to more complex and unanticipated queries and prompts (based on the knowledge base it is trained on) In short, generative chatbots can communicate on their own, can be trained on information, and can handle complex and unforeseen queries from users. In terms of usability and power, they easily trump structured chatbots.
The only downside to generative chatbots is that there can be more work involved in setting up and testing proper boundaries to prevent behaviour that is unaligned with the organization’s goals. That means setting up tone, formality, and ensuring communications align with brand guidelines (which can be done by training a chatbot on a communications guidelines document).
Furthermore, with more stories about businesses dealing with malfunctioning AI (e.g Air Canada’s AI chatbot creating a made-up refund policy that the organization was forced to comply with), organizations may be wary about using generative chatbots.
All that doesn’t mean generative chatbots can’t benefit your organization. With anything involving AI, it just means you must create a strategy and consider questions like:
What are some inefficiencies in my business that an AI chatbot could help with? Where can we optimize for time and cost while enhancing performance? What do we need to do to be ready for an AI chatbot? Is our data prepared? What do we need to train it? What boundaries do we need to set for tone and knowledge? How can we integrate AI into our current tech stack so it performs smoothly? By having a well-thought-out AI strategy, you’ll be more prepared to create a successful generative chatbot that can help optimize inefficient processes within your organization. So What Chatbot Should My Business Use? To summarize, structured chatbots work best for:
Simple, knowable queries A small predefined list of actions Generative Chatbots Work Best For: More complex, vague, and unknown queries More organic conversation and information gathering Whether it be as an internal search engine to help employees find documents and information or as a customer service agent assisting with order fulfillment, generative chatbots can help your organization optimize a variety of front-office and back-office processes, reducing time and cost while enhancing productivity, performance, and satisfaction.
If your organization is planning on using AI, generative chatbots are a great way to get started. If you’re considering the best way to set up a chatbot, SimplyAsk can help you devise an AI strategy and implementation through our automation consulting services.
If you’re interested in trying out either kind of chatbot, SimplyAsk offers both through Converse, our AI-powered chatbot solution. Design both structured and generative chatbots in our drag-and-drop, no-code editor and deploy an array of intelligent agents for your website, mobile app, internal systems, and more. Learn more about Converse by checking out our Products section and try it out on Symphona for free by booking a demo on the side bar.
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