In the latest installment of his series on cloud computing, “Things to Come,” author Barry Briggs explores how the transformation of conversational computing is just beginning for the business world.
Bots already can search the internet for you and help you find interesting new stories, or make dinner reservations for you. “As bots are connected to corporate databases, for example, they’ll simplify tasks from onsite repairs to scheduling meetings into simple conversational actions like, ‘What parts do I need to fix this?’ or ‘What time is Customer X available next Monday?’” Briggs writes.
New machine learning technologies can bring better insight into not just what, but how customers are feeling, Briggs says. “For example, Microsoft’s text analysis engine can perform real-time sentiment analysis, telling your business if your customer is feeling positive or negative, and a popular bot released by Microsoft in China, called XiaoIce, responds based on the user’s emotional cues.” XiaoIce’s “newest cousin,” recently introduced, is called Zo.
Read Briggs’ essay on the Transform blog.
Suzanne Choney
Microsoft News Center Staff
