Why AI And Chatbots Need Personality

Need Personality
Why AI
And Chatbots

© 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
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IntroductionIntroduction
Even though Siri and Alexa are chatbots that many people now believe they
can’t live without, it was the SmarterChild chatbot that lived on many people's
buddy lists in 2000, and that gave humans their first widespread exposure to
chatbots. The thing that SmarterChild, Siri and Alexa have, along with other
successful chatbots (computer programs designed to mimic human
conversation), is personality.
Why AI And Chatbots Need Personality

Personality Is Important,
But Performance Takes Priority
Robert Hoffer, the creator of SmarterChild, explained their goal was to create a bot people
would actually use and to achieve that objective, “we had to make the best friend on the
Internet.” They succeeded in creating a bot who could respond with funny, sad, and
sarcastic comments—ultimately more human-like than a robot. And, back in 2000, it spoke
to 250,000 humans each day, which was extraordinary for the time, so there’s no debate
that it was used!
Not every bot should be programmed with snark. In fact, some bots require brevity and
direct responses, and chit-chat would be unwelcome. If people are using a chatbot to
complete a task, the primary objective for them is to get that task done. In fact, recent
research shows that 69 percent of consumers would use a chatbot to get an instant
answer; only 15 percent would use it just for fun. Therefore, you can’t sacrifice the
performance of the bot for its personality.
Once you ensure the performance of the bot, chatbots have the potential to become a key
brand ambassador for your organization. And the bot’s personality can be a vital
component of that.

How Do You Determine The Personality
For Your Chatbot?
There are several things to consider when you are developing a personality for your
chatbot.
You can imagine that a chatbot built to respond to a person in an
emergency such as Rescue should be efficient and straightforward
with questions and responses while not wasting time trying to be
clever. Similarly, you likely don’t want your financial institution’s
chatbot to “joke” with you about a negative account balance or razz
you about a meager savings account. When considering the
appropriate personality for a chatbot, it begins with understanding
the chatbot’s primary use.
What Will The Chatbot Be Used For?

For Your Chatbot?
If your company developed guidelines to inform the design and
content for your marketing materials and company brand, then your
chatbot should align with those guidelines. Other resources that are
also handy would be social media strategies, buyer personas, and
company style guides.
Check Your Brand Guidelines

For Your Chatbot?
Your chatbot should mirror the persona of your target market. If your
ideal customer is a millennial male who loves tech gadgets, the
personality of your bot shouldn't mimic the demographics of that
millennial male's mom. When your bot uses the language, pop culture
references and speaks to the life experiences of your primary
demographic, it will more likely connect with your target market.
Who Is Your Ideal Customer?

For Your Chatbot?
Some organizations will consider how the bot would react by using the
five-factor model of personality. The five factors include openness to
experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and
neuroticism. Other organizations might not be so formal and just
consider common personality traits such as if their bot should be
friendly, funny, witty, sarcastic, helpful, polite and more to build out
the personality traits of their bot.
Develop Your Bot’s Personality Traits

Opportunities To Leverage A
Chatbot’s Personality
Today, your chatbot’s personality is a competitive differentiator. There are some key
interaction points that must be considered when building out a chatbot to infuse
personality and to take advantage of improving the experience for your consumer.
Most experts agree that it’s good practice to let customers know
they are speaking to a machine rather than trying to pass off the
interaction—and risk losing the trust of the person—as if it’s with a
human. In addition, the way you greet the consumer is an important
way of conveying personality. Will your bot say, “Yo” or “Hello” or
“Greetings?” All connote a different personality. It’s also useful to
share some common tasks the bot can help the person with.
The Greeting Or Opening Of
The Conversation

For Your Chatbot?
When a human asks a bot a random question, it gives an opportunity
for a connection with that person. Determine how your bot will build
that connection even when asked random questions that have nothing
to do with your product or service.
Expect Unrelated Questions

For Your Chatbot?
The attribution of human feelings and beliefs to inanimate things is
called anthropomorphism. It is important to keep this principle in mind
and make use of it when creating responses that resonate with people.
Consumers will become frustrated with a bot similar to how they
would with a human if their queries don’t produce a helpful response.
They always want to receive the right response at the right time.
Anything less than that will lead to frustration.
The Right Response At The Right Time

For Your Chatbot?
It's important that your bot can clarify questions when they don't
understand, and it can give the consumer a way out of the interaction.
There's nothing more frustrating—in a human or bot interaction—
when all you get in response is the same circuitous replies.
Avoid Repetitive Responses

For Your Chatbot?
Use humour and wit thoughtfully during interactions. It can help
deliver your brand experience, but if used inappropriately it can
backfire.
Humour and Wit

For Your Chatbot?
Don’t forget to give your bot manners as well. Ultimately, it’s an
important extension of your brand and how you deliver stellar
customer service.
Your Bot Should Have Manners Too!

For Your Chatbot?
Another opportunity to insert personality into an interaction is in the
way the bot closes out conversation.
There’s more than the technology to consider when building out a
chatbot. Be intentional about your bot’s personality so that it can
produce the best results for your company.
Signing Off

© 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website
© 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website

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