<s>
A	O
conversational	B-General_Concept
user	I-General_Concept
interface	I-General_Concept
(	O
CUI	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
for	O
computers	O
that	O
emulates	O
a	O
conversation	O
with	O
a	O
real	O
human	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Historically	O
,	O
computers	O
have	O
relied	O
on	O
text-based	B-Application
user	I-Application
interfaces	I-Application
and	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interfaces	I-Application
(	O
GUIs	B-Application
)	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
user	O
pressing	O
a	O
"	O
back	O
"	O
button	O
)	O
to	O
translate	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
desired	O
action	O
into	O
commands	O
the	O
computer	O
understands	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
an	O
effective	O
mechanism	O
of	O
completing	O
computing	O
actions	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
a	O
learning	O
curve	O
for	O
the	O
user	O
associated	O
with	O
GUI	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
do	O
this	O
,	O
conversational	B-General_Concept
interfaces	I-General_Concept
use	O
natural	B-Language
language	I-Language
processing	I-Language
(	O
NLP	B-Language
)	O
to	O
allow	O
computers	O
to	O
understand	O
,	O
analyze	O
,	O
and	O
create	O
meaning	O
from	O
human	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
word	O
processors	O
,	O
NLP	B-Language
considers	O
the	O
structure	O
of	O
human	O
language	O
(	O
i.e.	O
,	O
words	O
make	O
phrases	O
;	O
phrases	O
make	O
sentences	O
which	O
convey	O
the	O
idea	O
or	O
intent	O
the	O
user	O
is	O
trying	O
to	O
invoke	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ambiguous	O
nature	O
of	O
human	O
language	O
makes	O
it	O
difficult	O
for	O
a	O
machine	O
to	O
always	O
correctly	O
interpret	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
requests	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
why	O
we	O
have	O
seen	O
a	O
shift	O
toward	O
natural-language	B-General_Concept
understanding	I-General_Concept
(	O
NLU	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NLU	O
allows	O
conversational	B-General_Concept
interfaces	I-General_Concept
to	O
handle	O
unstructured	O
inputs	O
that	O
the	O
human	O
brain	O
is	O
able	O
to	O
understand	O
such	O
as	O
spelling	O
mistakes	O
of	O
follow-up	O
questions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Conversational	B-General_Concept
interfaces	I-General_Concept
have	O
emerged	O
as	O
a	O
tool	O
for	O
businesses	O
to	O
efficiently	O
provide	O
consumers	O
with	O
relevant	O
information	O
,	O
in	O
a	O
cost-effective	O
manner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
there	O
are	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
interface	O
brands	O
,	O
to	O
date	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
two	O
main	O
categories	O
of	O
conversational	B-General_Concept
interfaces	I-General_Concept
;	O
voice	B-Application
assistants	I-Application
and	O
chatbots	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
voice	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
allows	O
a	O
user	O
to	O
complete	O
an	O
action	O
by	O
speaking	O
a	O
command	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Introduced	O
in	O
October	O
2011	O
,	O
Apple	O
's	O
Siri	B-Application
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
voice	B-Application
assistants	I-Application
widely	O
adopted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Siri	B-Application
allowed	O
users	O
of	O
iPhone	O
to	O
get	O
information	O
and	O
complete	O
actions	O
on	O
their	O
device	O
simply	O
by	O
asking	O
Siri	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
later	O
years	O
,	O
Siri	B-Application
was	O
integrated	O
with	O
Apple	O
's	O
HomePod	B-Device
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Further	O
development	O
has	O
continued	O
since	O
Siri	B-Application
's	O
introduction	O
to	O
include	O
home	O
based	O
devices	O
such	O
as	O
Google	B-Device
Home	I-Device
or	O
Amazon	B-Device
Echo	I-Device
(	O
powered	O
by	O
Alexa	O
)	O
that	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
"	O
connect	O
"	O
their	O
homes	O
through	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
smart	B-Device
devices	I-Device
to	O
further	O
the	O
options	O
of	O
tangible	O
actions	O
they	O
can	O
complete	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
conversational	B-General_Concept
interfaces	I-General_Concept
that	O
utilize	O
a	O
voice	O
assistant	O
have	O
become	O
a	O
popular	O
way	O
for	O
businesses	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
their	O
customers	O
as	O
the	O
interface	O
removes	O
some	O
friction	O
in	O
a	O
customer	O
journey	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
chatbot	B-Application
is	O
a	O
web	O
-	O
or	O
mobile-based	O
interface	O
that	O
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
ask	O
questions	O
and	O
retrieve	B-Library
information	I-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
complexity	O
to	O
which	O
a	O
chatbot	B-Application
answers	B-Algorithm
questions	I-Algorithm
depends	O
on	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
back	O
end	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Chatbots	B-Application
with	O
hard-coded	O
answers	O
has	O
a	O
smaller	O
base	O
on	O
information	O
and	O
corresponding	O
skills	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Chatbots	B-Application
that	O
leverage	O
machine	O
learning	O
will	O
continue	O
to	O
grow	O
and	O
develop	O
larger	O
content	O
bases	O
for	O
more	O
complex	O
responses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
frequently	O
,	O
companies	O
are	O
leveraging	O
chatbots	B-Application
as	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
offload	O
simple	O
questions	O
and	O
transactions	O
from	O
human	O
agents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
chatbots	B-Application
provide	O
the	O
option	O
to	O
assist	O
a	O
user	O
,	O
but	O
then	O
directly	O
transfer	O
the	O
customer	O
to	O
a	O
live	O
agent	O
within	O
the	O
same	O
chat	O
window	O
if	O
the	O
conversation	O
becomes	O
too	O
complex	O
,	O
this	O
feature	O
is	O
called	O
Human	O
Handover	O
,	O
chatbot	B-Application
platforms	O
like	O
BotPenguin	O
and	O
other	O
platform	O
offers	O
such	O
features	O
in	O
their	O
chatbots	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Chatbots	B-Application
have	O
evolved	O
and	O
have	O
come	O
a	O
long	O
way	O
since	O
their	O
inception	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Modern	O
day	O
chatbots	B-Application
have	O
personas	O
which	O
make	O
them	O
sound	O
more	O
human-like	O
.	O
</s>
