So there’s a new giant wave of AI style “bot” apps lurking on the horizon. What new items / categories can we expect the bot building market to be looking for? This should be an interesting opportunity for Envato and authors to gain ground early on.
Obviously sound effects, icons, animations and graphics elements, but perhaps also code libraries / snippets, tutorial videos and presentation / configuration page templates. What else? What will we be selling when people type “bot” in the search field?
As I understood, “bot” is a AI which interacts with user by text/chat and make some tasks like product ordering, paying the bills. For.example, restaraunt chat bot will help you order the food without downloading restaraunt app. Look at the example of Alfred bot: http://alfredthebot.com/
For those who are a little bit confused, I have heard some news about that Facebook Messenger’s update on the Radio.
Basically, Facebook will let companies send advertising directly into your Messenger’s inbox (on your smartphone’s app and on the website) if you “liked” a post or a company’s facebook page.
For instance: I am on Facebook, I go to the Apple’s Facebook page and I like it plus some random posts. Now they are allowed to send me advertising of their last iPhone 5SE because you showed interests toward their products/brand. This advertising could include not only a simple automatic message, but a real chat with a person to manage sales.
I think bots are interesting not only for the services they provide, but because they reduce the UI to simple conversation, and move focus from using Google search and browsing websites to the chat window. Just like Google have been moving towards an “all-in-one” solution with their search box (which now sits prominently in the address bar), the trend seems to be to shift from “search and browse” to “ask” or even “command”.
I think about it this way, usually when you open your Google page and start typing away, you already know what you want. Let’s for example say you want to buy the best possible seats at a movie as soon as they are available. You already know what movie you want to see, you already know what cinemas are in your area, etc. But you still have to click your way through to get to the booking screen, and worst of all, you need to time it exactly with the ticket release date to get the best seats before everybody else. This is where a good chat bot comes in handy. Just explain what you need, and let the bot do the work.
In the first wave we’re probably mostly going to see simple services like ordering pizza or listing new dvd releases. Thinking about how to make these bot apps marketable for the general supplier will be more than one man’s job, to say the least. I’m forecasting a large number of customisable code templates (CodeCanyon, anyone?) that the average local IT guy can tweak and sell to local clients that want to get in on the channel. We’ll probably also see a need for interaction overview, display and statistics (ThemeForest?) and integrations with existing accounting and sales systems. While Facebook will do what they can to clamp down and monopolising their bit, opening a Bot Store is a sign they understand that the complexity of serving to a multitude of differing end market segments and objectives is better left to niche suppliers.
The second wave will possibly be more individual data driven, with chat cues like “show me the status of my application”, or “how much money will I have left by the end of next month”. The possibilities are as endless as the rest of the internet, it will “simply” be a step in the evolution of diminishing the distance from need to delivery. And once chat bots are just as common as web pages, there will be a gazillion choices of UI, presentation, design and customisability. Basically something that Envato authors should be able to provide
How do you think they will need UI if they will be tend to reduce UI?
I think that in most negative scenario chat bots will kill most of apps and websites, but in positive scenario (in which I believe) they will cooperate with each other.
It depends on how we define UI. I think that all “sizes” of UI will still have the option to carry different “flavours”. Like, an iPhone touchscreen keyboard reduces the need for a physical one, but you can still choose from different fonts and layouts. Additionally, and interestingly enough, people more and more use emojis and graphics in their messages as in effect software keyboards now have even MORE “buttons” and options. So while 20 years ago the future of designing typewriters or PC keyboards was brighter than it is now, now we suddenly have lift limitations of the actual written content - it is somewhat disconnected from the physical device, but richer in design and preference variability. Plus, we have Siri and various AI styled voice control systems that need to come in different languages, in people may have the option to choose from different voices, dialects, (urban slang?) etc.
I don’t necessarily think that people will want LESS pages, graphics, lists, sounds, music, games and whatnot - they will just need less UI to get what they want. For example, to see a slideshow of photos today on the web you typically need to google for the website, then search for your desired category, then click “play”. That combined is like an “agglomeration of UI” that you need to get through to see the photos. With a bot, it should be easier like “show me a slideshow of white cats” and boom. But the UI isn’t gone, it’s focus has just shifted. You still want the slideshow template to look nice and work on all platforms
Hey MDC,
As long as you are on their website, they can show you anything. It’s email that has controls. I always use a “Receiver” email account when i first sign on to a new website. This way, the spam goes to my spam collector. Simply change the email address once decide to join.
Developers, think of something to add as an A.I. plugin for browsers. Help the veiwers to see what they like. Perhaps some keywords the bot can collect based on searches. Keep the repeated searches to help steer the right ads to the user. This works for merchants and limits over-clicking and works for the user by showing better, relevant advertising. Just thinking out loud. Coding hurts my brain.
What about bot stores? I recently came across botarea.com, there are bots for many platforms and if you created your own you can add it there for free.
