BoB - Bot on Bots

Bots that help you take care of everyday tasks could be the next big thing. Chatbots went dormant as messaging transitioned away from desktops and onto mobile devices. But they’re poised for a resurgence in 2016.

Seize the Opportunity Chatbots Offer to Make Brands Humanly Relevant. Bots are already proliferating in business faster than you've likely realized. They are common in travel, news, retail, banking, and much, much more. (This list could go on for a while, but I'm not a bot so I'll just stop here.)

Users should find bots smoother to use, which explains another of their monikers: “invisible apps”. Installation takes seconds; switching between bots does not involve tapping on another app icon; and talking to bots may be more appealing than dealing with a customer-support agent of a bank or airline, for example.

As bots become equipped to handle text content, the human side of brands and consumers will gravitate toward new, richer ways to engage, including virtual and augmented reality.

There are two trends leading toward chatbots: On the one hand, messaging is turning out to be the killer app of the smartphone. On the other hand, the app model of smartphone development has been falling apart for years.