:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/ZZ2ZUPLSJ2UYGU35JHD6Y7PF6A.jpg)
At last year's Microsoft Build conference, CEO Satya Nadella declared that "bots are the new apps . . . human language is the new user interface".
A year later, Microsoft has announced updates to its Bot Framework to help developers build and connect intelligent chat bots to interact with users through their company website, app or through Microsoft's Cortana AI assistant, Skype, Office 365 mail, Slack, Facebook Messenger and Skype for Business.
This integration with Skype extends to the Bing search engine. Businesses can now build search engine bots that pop up in search results; users can click on the “chat” button and a Skype web interface pops up to answer questions.
Bot directory
This is already being rolled out in conjunction with several business in the United States but has yet to arrive in Ireland.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/MCU3G7REYTLWR3JT2JREP6U2IQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/6WQLYWQ2R33CGQUCD6VIWDOEWI.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/3LD75JRS4XAIM3HOO76T56D2XY.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/TUP72S4VN5OHBQYNJFS6HYG7SE.jpg)
Meanwhile, Microsoft has a bot directory with a full list of currently available bots ranging from a Skyscanner bot to help you find cheap flights to Your Face, a brutally honest Skype chat bot that assesses images of your face. Apparently, I am a “human woman” with a “bored face”.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/sandbox.irishtimes/GW3FWAURWFGM7FF4RMYJLBG7ZI.png)