<s>
A	O
software	B-General_Concept
bot	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
software	B-General_Concept
agent	I-General_Concept
in	O
the	O
service	O
of	O
software	O
project	O
management	O
and	O
software	O
engineering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
software	B-General_Concept
bot	I-General_Concept
has	O
an	O
identity	O
and	O
potentially	O
personified	O
aspects	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
serve	O
their	O
stakeholders	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
often	O
compose	O
software	O
services	O
and	O
provide	O
an	O
alternative	O
user	O
interface	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
sometimes	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
necessarily	O
conversational	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
are	O
typically	O
used	O
to	O
execute	O
tasks	O
,	O
suggest	O
actions	O
,	O
engage	O
in	O
dialogue	O
,	O
and	O
promote	O
social	O
and	O
cultural	O
aspects	O
of	O
a	O
software	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
bot	B-Protocol
is	O
derived	O
from	O
robot	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
robots	B-Algorithm
act	O
in	O
the	O
physical	O
world	O
and	O
software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
act	O
only	O
in	O
digital	O
spaces	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
are	O
designed	O
and	O
behave	O
as	O
chatbots	B-Application
,	O
but	O
not	O
all	O
chatbots	B-Application
are	O
software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
discuss	O
the	O
past	O
and	O
future	O
of	O
software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
and	O
show	O
that	O
software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
have	O
been	O
adopted	O
for	O
many	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
are	O
used	O
to	O
support	O
development	O
activities	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
communication	O
among	O
software	O
developers	O
and	O
automation	O
of	O
repetitive	O
tasks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
have	O
been	O
adopted	O
by	O
several	O
communities	O
related	O
to	O
software	O
development	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
open-source	O
communities	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
and	O
Stack	B-Error_Name
Overflow	I-Error_Name
.	O
</s>
<s>
GitHub	B-Application
bots	B-Protocol
have	O
user	O
accounts	O
and	O
can	O
open	O
,	O
close	O
,	O
or	O
comment	O
on	O
pull	O
requests	O
and	O
issues	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GitHub	B-Application
bots	B-Protocol
have	O
been	O
used	O
to	O
assign	O
reviewers	O
,	O
ask	O
contributors	O
to	O
sign	O
the	O
Contributor	O
License	O
Agreement	O
,	O
report	O
continuous	O
integration	O
failures	O
,	O
review	O
code	O
and	O
pull	O
requests	O
,	O
welcome	O
newcomers	O
,	O
run	O
automated	O
tests	O
,	O
merge	O
pull	O
requests	O
,	O
fix	O
bugs	O
and	O
vulnerabilities	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Slack	B-Protocol
tool	O
includes	O
an	O
API	O
for	O
developing	O
software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
slack	B-Protocol
bots	B-Protocol
for	O
keeping	O
track	O
of	O
todo	O
lists	O
,	O
coordinating	O
standup	O
meetings	O
,	O
and	O
managing	O
support	O
tickets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Chatbot	B-Application
company	O
products	O
further	O
simplify	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
creating	O
a	O
custom	O
Slack	B-Protocol
bot	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Wikipedia	O
,	O
Wikipedia	O
bots	B-Protocol
automate	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
tasks	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
creating	O
stub	O
articles	O
,	O
consistently	O
updating	O
the	O
format	O
of	O
multiple	O
articles	O
,	O
and	O
so	O
on	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bots	B-Protocol
like	O
ClueBot	B-Protocol
NG	I-Protocol
are	O
capable	O
of	O
recognizing	O
vandalism	O
and	O
automatically	O
remove	O
disruptive	O
content	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
provide	O
a	O
faceted	O
taxonomy	O
to	O
characterize	O
bots	B-Protocol
based	O
on	O
a	O
literature	O
review	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
composed	O
of	O
3	O
main	O
facets	O
:	O
(	O
i	O
)	O
properties	O
of	O
the	O
environment	O
that	O
the	O
bot	B-Protocol
was	O
created	O
in	O
;	O
(	O
ii	O
)	O
intrinsic	O
properties	O
of	O
the	O
bot	B-Protocol
itself	O
;	O
and	O
(	O
iii	O
)	O
the	O
bot	B-Protocol
's	O
interactions	O
within	O
its	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paikari	O
and	O
van	O
der	O
Hoek	O
defined	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
dimensions	O
to	O
enable	O
comparing	O
software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
,	O
applied	O
especifically	O
to	O
chatbots	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
raised	O
the	O
question	O
of	O
the	O
difference	O
between	O
a	O
bot	B-Protocol
and	O
simple	O
automation	O
,	O
since	O
much	O
research	O
done	O
in	O
the	O
name	O
of	O
software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
uses	O
the	O
term	O
bot	B-Protocol
to	O
describe	O
various	O
different	O
tools	O
and	O
sometimes	O
things	O
are	O
"	O
just	O
"	O
plain	O
old	O
development	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
chat	O
bot	B-Protocol
persona	O
(	O
Charlie	O
)	O
primarily	O
thinks	O
of	O
bots	B-Protocol
as	O
tools	O
that	O
communicates	O
with	O
the	O
developer	O
through	O
a	O
natural	O
language	O
interface	O
(	O
typically	O
voice	O
or	O
chat	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
caring	O
little	O
about	O
what	O
tasks	O
the	O
bot	B-Protocol
is	O
used	O
for	O
or	O
how	O
it	O
actually	O
implements	O
these	O
tasks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
autonomous	O
bot	B-Protocol
persona	O
(	O
Alex	O
)	O
thinks	O
of	O
bots	B-Protocol
as	O
tools	O
that	O
work	O
on	O
their	O
own	O
(	O
without	O
requiring	O
much	O
input	O
from	O
a	O
developer	O
)	O
on	O
a	O
task	O
that	O
would	O
normally	O
be	O
done	O
by	O
a	O
human	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
smart	O
bot	B-Protocol
persona	O
(	O
Sam	O
)	O
separates	O
bots	B-Protocol
and	O
plain	O
old	O
development	O
tools	O
through	O
how	O
smart	O
(	O
technically	O
sophisticated	O
)	O
a	O
tool	O
is	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
authors	O
recommends	O
that	O
people	O
doing	O
research	O
or	O
writing	O
about	O
bots	B-Protocol
try	O
to	O
put	O
their	O
work	O
in	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
personas	O
since	O
the	O
personas	O
have	O
different	O
expectations	O
and	O
problems	O
with	O
the	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Probot	O
is	O
an	O
organization	O
that	O
create	O
and	O
maintain	O
bots	B-Protocol
for	O
GitHub	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
example	O
bots	B-Protocol
using	O
Probot	O
are	O
the	O
following	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Looks	O
good	O
to	O
me	O
bot	B-Protocol
(	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
Semmle	B-Language
product	O
that	O
inspects	O
pull	O
requests	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
for	O
code	O
style	O
and	O
unsafe	O
code	O
practices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
may	O
not	O
be	O
well	O
accepted	O
by	O
humans	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
study	O
from	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Antwerp	O
has	O
compared	O
how	O
developers	O
active	O
on	O
Stack	B-Error_Name
Overflow	I-Error_Name
perceive	O
answers	O
generated	O
by	O
software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
find	O
that	O
developers	O
perceive	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
software	O
bot-generated	O
answers	O
to	O
be	O
significantly	O
worse	O
if	O
the	O
identity	O
of	O
the	O
software	B-General_Concept
bot	I-General_Concept
is	O
made	O
apparent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
contrast	O
,	O
answers	O
from	O
software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
with	O
human-like	O
identity	O
were	O
better	O
received	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
practice	O
,	O
when	O
software	B-General_Concept
bots	I-General_Concept
are	O
used	O
on	O
platforms	O
like	O
GitHub	B-Application
or	O
Wikipedia	O
,	O
their	O
username	O
makes	O
it	O
clear	O
that	O
they	O
are	O
bots	B-Protocol
,	O
e.g.	O
,	O
DependaBot	O
,	O
RenovateBot	O
,	O
DatBot	O
,	O
SineBot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bots	B-Protocol
may	O
be	O
subject	O
to	O
special	O
rules	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
the	O
GitHub	B-Application
terms	O
of	O
service	O
does	O
not	O
allow	O
`bot`	O
but	O
accepts	O
`machine	O
account`	O
,	O
where	O
a	O
`machine	O
account`	O
has	O
two	O
properties	O
:	O
1	O
)	O
a	O
human	O
takes	O
full	O
responsibility	O
of	O
the	O
bot	B-Protocol
's	O
actions	O
2	O
)	O
it	O
cannot	O
create	O
other	O
accounts	O
.	O
</s>
