What Can We Expect From Conversational AI in 2021?

Voice assistant adoption is expected to triple by 2023, and 50% of businesses will prioritise conversational technology investments above mobile platforms. Here are the key trends to watch.

Conversational Commerce

Retail and e-commerce sectors are experiencing growth through conversational commerce -- transactions conducted via messaging and text platforms. Facebook research indicates 40% of global respondents said that conversational commerce was their first introduction to online shopping. Additionally, 97% of respondents plan to maintain or expand conversational commerce spending.

Voice Commerce

Voice commerce utilises voice recognition technology to enable online purchasing. Digital voice assistant usage is projected to reach 8 billion devices by 2023. Smart speaker users currently engage in product research, shopping list management, package tracking, purchases, reviews, customer support, and item reordering. 2021 will witness increased Alexa skill and Google Home action purchases as retailers expand this capability.

Conversational AI Taking the Next Steps

Advanced conversational AI capabilities will emerge through projects like Kuki.ai, Blenderbot, Meena, and GPT-3. Open-domain chatbots will expand possibilities, introducing personalised systems handling complex problems with enhanced sentiment understanding. Meena contains 2.6 billion parameters trained on 341 GB of text data. As computing costs decrease, open-domain chatbot technology accessibility will improve.

Companion Systems

The global pandemic increased isolation and loneliness, creating demand for AI systems serving companion roles. Chatbots assumed informational roles during the 2020 crisis, providing COVID-19 support, a trend expected to continue.

Voice Interaction Will Augment User Interfaces

Voice capability integration into software products is becoming increasingly popular, particularly for touchscreen applications. Developers will enhance products by reducing friction through voice controls, especially beneficial for complex search interfaces.

Conversational Search

Voice search represents rapidly growing information access methods. Enhanced conversational features -- multiple dialogue turns, follow-up responses, search refinement, and clarification -- will improve usefulness. Voice search data and personal voice presence will gain importance in search visibility.

Chatbots as Sales Assistants

Chatbots increasingly function as sales assistants, excelling at providing product-specific knowledge and recommendations based on customer parameters.

Smart IVR Use Will Continue to Grow

Speech recognition and natural language understanding for automated request processing will expand. Companies like Audiocodes offer advanced audio gateways replacing legacy systems. Conversational IVRs eliminate keypad struggles and complicated menu navigation. Chatbot technology will expand into agent assist roles, where systems monitor call centre conversations and deliver real-time advice, information, and suggested responses to representatives.

Conclusion

2021 promises significant developments as technological advancements and workplace changes drive conversational AI adoption. The Bot Forge team anticipates exciting projects ahead.