Chat as Interface

In Medium:  Amusing thoughts.  Chat and vocal interface can be very useful, but it is much harder to define, debug and direct than a classic user interface.    Until you get something that is very AI like.   And even then,  chatty communications among intelligent humans can also be messy and error prone.  So we are struggling to place email with something more directed and precise.  Can a chatbot make that happen anytime soon?

No UI is the New UI

A novel look at conversational, messenger style interfaces.   Implies that the US can well understand context and even intent.  What are the implications of error?

No UI is the New UI
On the rise of UI-less apps and why you should care about them as a designer.

If you don’t know about these apps, what make them special is that they don’t use a traditional UI as a mean of interaction. Instead, the entire app revolves around a single messaging screen. These are called ‘Invisible’ and ‘Conversational’ apps, and since my initial post, a slew of similar apps came to market. Even as of writing this, Facebook is releasing M, a personal assistant that’s integrated with Messenger to help you do about anything. ... " 

Google Planning Chatbots in Messengers Leveraging Cognitive AI

I recently mentioned the linking of chatbots and messenger systems.  Recall we addressed this in early assistance systems.   See the Mr Clean tag below.

In Forbes:  Google To Launch An Artificial Intelligence Messenger Service To Rival Facebook M   .... Theo Priestley

" .... According to sources close to the Wall Street Journal, Google is looking into launching a new mobile based messenger service underpinned by artificial intelligence. “For its new service, Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., plans to integrate chatbots, software programs that answer questions inside a messaging app,” the article claims. ...  " 

Chatbots are Back for Services

Google working on a chatbot filled messaging service.  We experimented with chatbots.  And I see that the 'Slack' messaging service claims one as well.   It is a natural place to place a service that interprets interactions and attempts to provide value.   NLP based AI has improved considerably, so it is useful to think of their inclusion in service channels.  An example of an attentive system.  Also an example of a 'UI Free' system.    More to follow here.   Also consider their similarity to Facebook M,  where messages can be passed to humans, or chatbot agents.