Wait, What are Chatbots?!
A lot of new tech has been developed lately and we’ve noticed that chatbots are one of the hottest things out there. But what exactly are they? Chatbots represent a product/service, sometimes powered by AI, with which you can interact via a chat platform (Facebook Messenger, Slack, Text Messages, etc.) They can answer basic questions regarding a specific subject, offer advice and can even be programmed to message you at specific time intervals during the day. The “Chatbot Revolution” began in April 2016, when Facebook launched their new Messenger Platform, allowing everyone to develop their own chatbots.
We’ve selected 5 chatbots that were very smartly created, with a lot of passion and dedication, and we recommend you chat with them at least once. They’ll definitely brighten things up! 🙂
1. Hi Poncho
Receiving bad news about the weather has never put a smile on my face… until now. Poncho the weathercat is here to add a ray of witty, charming, comical sunshine to your rainy/snowy/windy/misty day. You can subscribe for daily updates, get a 5-day forecast and even check the pollen levels or if the weather will make your hair frizzy (or not). Poncho may not know a lot about many things, but when it comes to giving you weather updates wrapped up in a layer of charming comedy, he’s at the top of his game.
2. Dad Joke Bot by Fatherly
The Dad Joke Bot is coming to the rescue for all you dads out there that don’t really know any funny AND age appropriate jokes. I had a couple of genuine chuckles myself and found some very original, if quirky, jokes provided by this friendly chatbot. Here are a couple of them that you really can’t forget:
What did the toy store sign say? Don’t feed the animals. They are already stuffed.
When you have a bladder infection, urine trouble.
Why did the pig stop sunbathing? He was bacon in the heat.
A man tried to sell me a coffin today. I told him that’s the last thing I need.
You can even submit your own, which is pretty cool if you’re into sharing dad jokes passed on from generation to generation. Fatherly also features a lot of very interesting information about what being a father is really like, featuring activities that you can engage in with your kids, but also gear, toys and books, as well as health and parenting tips.
3. Fitmeal
Basically, what Fitmeal asks you to do is send a message with what you had for your most recent meal/snack. It then displays an approximate calorie count of the specific elements (and their quantity), adding them up throughout the day. You can ask the bot to remind you to write down your menu on an hourly basis or every 6/12 hours. When you click the ”See your report” button you are taken to www.fitmeal.com, where you can see a detailed report of your eating habits, across a longer period of time. You can even check the categories of the foods you want to eat/drink more or less of (Dairies, Fruits, Grains, Proteins, Alcohols, Sweets, Liquids, Veggies). It’s also very useful if you want to learn and compare the calories of the foods you usually binge on, just in case you want to lose (or gain) a couple of extra pounds/kilos.
4. ShelfJoy Bot
ShelfJoy is the bot that all us book lovers have been waiting for. It will help you explore a number of 10 carefully curated bookshelves every day. From “Science books for non-scientists”, “Books that inspired movies in the IMDB 250 list”, or “Books for people who love cooking”, to “Biographies of female writers”, there’s something for everyone to enjoy and discover.
After you choose a shelf, you will be able to explore the recommended books and, if you see a book that you like, you can click “Read more” and then buy it directly from Amazon. Now, how cool is that?!
5. Psydekick
If you’re into astrology (the horoscope, star signs, planet alignment and so forth), fortune cookies and Nostradamic predictions, the Psydekick bot will be your best friend and faithful companion in your daily quest to find out about stuff before everyone else does. Just write your star sign, tell it you want your fortune cookie and/or ask it a yes or no question from the future. It’s as simple as that. Enjoy!
From what we’ve seen so far, the future of chatbots looks quite inspiring and we can’t wait to find out where the great minds of this planet will take Artificial Intelligence next. Speaking of AI, we wrote an eBook about the latest future tech trends (IoT, VR, robotics, AI, and many more) that you can download for free here: Technology Trendsetters – How will the future of tech shape our lives?
We loved experiencing these very interesting chatbots and writing this article. If you enjoyed reading it and found it useful, please share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Thank you!
