“Why did the chatbot go to therapy? — Because it couldn’t handle all the “unintelligent” questions it was asked!”

This is my second article devoted to AI-empowered chatbots this week, because lately, I’ve been reading about these amazing tech creatures quite a lot. Here is a short summary of what I learned. Enjoy!

Back in 12019, Carter Edsall, the founder of Brand Theory, a growth agency that helps businesses eliminate the guesswork from online marketing, wrote an article called 10 Reasons Your Website Needs a Chatbot. In it, he highlighted the main features of chatbots, which were quite a new, even a bit mysterious phenomenon to majority of people at that time.

Edsal identified AI-powered chatbots as “Software that learns from customer interactions, draws from previous conversations and offers contextual solutions. The more conversations an AI-powered chatbot has, the more it will learn, improve and deliver increasingly accurate results.”

Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? I think, nobody has ever treated chatbots with such romanticism since then. “The bots are here to stay,” Edsal wrote. “Research by industry leaders confirms consumer and business intent to increasingly rely on chat functionality.” His prediction was supported by confident statistics which seemed quite progressive in 2019:

Today, in 2024, approximately 58% of B2B companies have chatbots integrated into their websites, reflecting a growing trend in online customer interaction through automated systems. The size of the worldwide chatbot market is difficult to measure, it varies depending on who you ask. Estimates range from $100 million or less to upwards of $5 billion USD. According to this scheme-

This projected figure for 2027 ($455 million) from Statista is calculated based on the market value in 2018 and the expected CAGR. The fastest-growing market for chatbots is in East Asia. The striking statistics has been convincing us in the unprecedented penetration of chatbots into our lives:

Well, one of the biggest benefits of chatbots is that they are available 24/7 and can continue to provide customer support and collect leads long after your sales and support reps finish their shifts. Here are a few more figures:

Well, chatbots have become a part of our daily life, this is true; AI-powered chatbots are everywhere and tend to spread all over the Internet even more.

Embedding an AI-powered chatbot into a website is relatively straightforward with the many available chatbot development platforms and frameworks, but the complexity depends on the level of customization, platform selection, and the specific needs of the business.

So, suppose you decided to get an AI-powered chatbot on your website;

How Difficult Would It Be?

The difficulty of embedding an AI chatbot varies based on the chatbot’s functionality and the underlying AI engine. A simple chatbot can be implemented relatively easily using platforms like Dialogflow, Botpress, or Microsoft Bot Framework that come with pre-built models for NLP (Natural Language Processing). For more complex AI-powered chatbots that require deep integrations with business systems (like CRMs, ERPs, or advanced AI customization), the task becomes more challenging and time-consuming.

Estimated Time (Man-Hours)

The time it takes to embed a chatbot can vary significantly, depending on factors like the chatbot’s complexity, integrations, and features:

• Basic Chatbot: A simple AI chatbot (e.g., FAQs, basic customer queries) can take between 10 to 40 hours.
• Intermediate Chatbot: A moderately complex AI chatbot with integrations to databases, CRMs, or custom intents can take between 80 to 120 hours.
• Advanced Chatbot: Complex AI chatbots with machine learning-based personalization, predictive analytics, or multi-language support can take anywhere from 200 to 500 hours or more.

Key Technical Skills Needed

1. Frontend Development: Skills in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are typically required to embed the chatbot widget into a website and customize its appearance.
2. Backend Development: Depending on the chatbot’s capabilities, backend programming (Node.js, Python, etc.) might be necessary for custom logic, integrations, or API communication.
3. Natural Language Processing (NLP): For AI-driven chatbots, knowledge of NLP technologies like Google’s Dialogflow, Amazon Lex, or Microsoft LUIS is essential to train the chatbot to understand user intents.
4. API Integration: If the chatbot is to be integrated with other business tools (e.g., CRM, ERP), knowledge of REST or GraphQL APIs is required.
5. AI/ML Expertise: For more advanced bots that require training custom machine learning models, expertise in machine learning frameworks like TensorFlow or PyTorch might be necessary.
6. Security Considerations: Knowledge of data privacy and secure communication protocols, especially for chatbots handling sensitive data, is crucial.

Steps in Embedding a Chatbot

1. Select the Platform: Choose a chatbot-building platform that aligns with your business goals (e.g., Dialogflow, Microsoft Bot Framework, or IBM Watson).
2. Create Chatbot Workflow: Develop the conversation flow and design the interactions for the chatbot.
3. Embed Chatbot on Website: Embed the chatbot by pasting a provided script or iframe code into the website’s source code, usually in the HTML header or footer.
4. Test and Deploy: Once embedded, thoroughly test the chatbot for bugs and ensure it works smoothly across different devices and browsers.

Tools and Platforms that Simplify the Process

• Tidio and Drift: Simplifies the process with ready-to-use widgets for websites and minimal coding.
• Dialogflow: Provides easy integration with platforms like WordPress and custom websites through API.
• Microsoft Bot Framework: Allows deep customization and is ideal for larger enterprises looking for complex workflows.

To sum up, for a basic chatbot, embedding can be done in a few days with minimal coding skills, while more advanced chatbots require more time and specialized knowledge.

If your business needs a tailored AI chatbot, working with a team experienced in AI, backend, and frontend development is essential to ensure seamless integration and functionality.