“From Eliza to Siri and beyond: Promise and challenges of intelligent, language-controlled assistants/chatbots.“ - Alexander Braun, founder of Creative Construction Heroes presented as part of the Cognitive Systems Institute Speaker Series on Nov. 3, 2016.

1. CREATIVE
CONSTRUCTION
FROM ELIZA TO SIRI AND BEYOND:
Promise and Challenges of Intelligent, Language-controlled
Assistants (Chatbots)
Alexander Braun (@almarrone)
November 3rd, 2016

2. CHATBOT ARMS RACE

3. 3
CHATBOTS: UNANIMOUSLY THE NEW USER INTERFACE
October 2011: Siri

4. 4
CHATBOTS: UNANIMOUSLY THE NEW USER INTERFACE
November 2014: Amazon Echo

5. 5
CHATBOTS: UNANIMOUSLY THE NEW USER INTERFACE
October 2015: Facebook M

6. 6
CHATBOTS: UNANIMOUSLY THE NEW USER INTERFACE
December 2015: Microso? Cortana

7. 7
CHATBOTS: UNANIMOUSLY THE NEW USER INTERFACE
May 2016: Google Assistant

8. 8
CHATBOTS: UNANIMOUSLY THE NEW USER INTERFACE
July 2016: IBM Watson ConversaKon

9. 9
CHATBOT REVOLUTION?
The sky is the limit

10. 10
CHATBOT REVOLUTION?
The sky is the limit

11. 11
CHATBOT REVOLUTION?
The sky is the limit

12. 12
CHATBOT REVOLUTION?
The sky is the limit

13. 13
CHATBOT REVOLUTION?

14. 14
CHATBOT REVOLUTION?
Maybe...

15. 15
CHATBOT REVOLUTION?
Maybe...

16. 16
CHATBOT REVOLUTION?
Maybe...

17. 17
CHATBOT REVOLUTION?
Maybe...

18. 18
CHATBOT REVOLUTION?
Maybe...

19. 19
CHATBOT REVOLUTION?
Maybe...

20. 20
CHATBOT REVOLUTION?
Maybe...

21. 03.11.16 21
CLIPPY OR SAMANTHA?

22. 03.11.16 22
CLIPPY OR SAMANTHA?

23. 03.11.16 23
CLIPPY OR SAMANTHA?

24. HISTORY AND MOTIVATION

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CHATBOTS NOT REALLY NEW...
Published in 2003
hPps://www.amazon.com/Chatbots-KundenkommunikaKon-
Xpert-press-German-Alexander/dp/3642624111/

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CHATBOTS NOT REALLY NEW...
1966: ELIZA by Joseph Weizenbaum

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MOTIVATION: REDUCE FRICTION, IMPROVE USABILITY
From command line to GUI to natural language interface + no app-switching

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MOTIVATION: IN SEARCH FOR A NEW RUNTIME
Breaking the app-install threshold

29. CHALLENGES TODAY

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BOT TYPES
Bot depends on database with finite information coded and curated by humans.
Rules-based Bots (-> IVR?)
Passing on message to customer service agent when stuck.
Curated Bots (-> Ticketing system?)

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PROBLEMS TODAY: DESIGN FLAWS
Identifying common commands

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PROBLEMS TODAY: DESIGN FLAWS
Executing identified commands

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PROBLEMS TODAY: DESIGN FLAWS
Personality getting in the way

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PROBLEMS TODAY: MAINTENANCE
Keeping database up-to-date

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PROBLEMS TODAY: MAINTENANCE
Keeping database up-to-date

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PROBLEMS TODAY: COMMON SENSE
Ambiguity
User: Siri, call me an ambulance.
Siri: Okay, from now on I’ll call you “an ambulance.”
I want to listen to Led Zeppelin.
Play Stairway to Heaven.
I’d like to listen to reggae.
I like No woman no cry.

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PROBLEMS TODAY: COMMON SENSE
Ambiguity
“The city councilmen refused the demonstrators a permit
because they feared violence.”
Who does ‘they’ refer to?

38. 38
PROBLEMS TODAY: COMMON SENSE
Ambiguity
In shopping, if I say, ‘I want to get a case for my guitar; it should be strong.’
So does ‘it’ refer to the case or the guitar?

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PROBLEMS TODAY: COMMON SENSE
Ambiguity: Chatbots barely better than chance

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TEACHING COMPUTERS COMMON SENSE
• OpenCyc (http://opencyc.org/)
• Microsoft Concept Graph (https://concept.research.microsoft.com/)

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STATUS: MORE, NOT LESS FRICTION
As opaque as a DOS prompt
No UI -> completely transparent to the user
Vision
Voice looks like the ultimate unlimited, general purpose UI,
but actually only works if you can narrow the domain.
Reality today

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STATUS: MORE, NOT LESS FRICTION
Where Siri went wrong
• Expectations: Can answer anything – unlimited, general purpose UI.
Siri vs. Alexa

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STATUS: MORE, NOT LESS FRICTION
Where Siri went wrong
• Expectations: Can answer anything – unlimited, general purpose UI.
• Reality: Limited to certain, not clearly defined domains.
Siri vs. Alexa

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STATUS: MORE, NOT LESS FRICTION
Where Siri went wrong
• Expectations: Can answer anything – unlimited, general purpose UI.
• Reality: Limited to certain, not clearly defined domains.
• Problem: User has to find out via trial and error.
Siri vs. Alexa

45. 45
STATUS: MORE, NOT LESS FRICTION
Where Siri went wrong
• Expectations: Can answer anything – unlimited, general purpose UI.
• Reality: Limited to certain, not clearly defined domains.
• Problem: User has to find out via trial and error.
• Result: Once users find out, they stop exploring. Assistant gets better,
user stays ignorant. Huge promise shrunk to just making voice calls and
sending messages to contacts, maybe getting the weather.
Siri vs. Alexa

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STATUS: MORE, NOT LESS FRICTION
Alexa‘s learnings – and challenges
• Expectations: Set to narrow scope of domains.
Siri vs. Alexa

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STATUS: MORE, NOT LESS FRICTION
Alexa‘s learnings – and challenges
• Expectations: Set to narrow scope of domains.
• Result: Less opaque – less disappointment.
Siri vs. Alexa

48. 48
STATUS: MORE, NOT LESS FRICTION
Alexa‘s learnings – and challenges
• Expectations: Set to narrow scope of domains.
• Result: Less opaque – less disappointment.
• Problem: Efficiency/Effectiveness...
1. "Alexa, add sponges to my shopping list.“
2. Open Alexa app.
3. Select "Shopping and To-Do Lists" from the sandwich menu.
4. Select "Sponges" from the list.
5. Select "Search Amazon for sponges" from pop-up list.
6. Wait for iOS to open the Amazon app (separate app from the Alexa app).
7. Scroll down and select the brand I like.
8. Check out.
Siri vs. Alexa

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STATUS: MORE, NOT LESS FRICTION
Efficiency and discoverability

50. WHERE BOTS WORK

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USAGE SCENARIOS
Architecture: Thread-centric UI paradigm

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USAGE SCENARIOS
Architecture: Horizontal AI with API access to other services

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USAGE SCENARIOS
Where bots work
• Quick interactions: The fewer number of required back-and-forth

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USAGE SCENARIOS
Where bots work
• Quick interactions: The fewer number of required back-and-forth
• Simple interactions: Not many options to choose from (shoe shopping...)

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USAGE SCENARIOS
Where bots work
• Quick interactions: The fewer number of required back-and-forth
• Simple interactions: Not many options to choose from (shoe shopping...)
• Context available to bot: Reducing load on user by pulling relevant cues and
context to make interations efficient

56. 56
USAGE SCENARIOS
Where bots work
• Quick interactions: The fewer number of required back-and-forth
• Simple interactions: Not many options to choose from (shoe shopping...)
• Context available to bot: Reducing load on user by pulling relevant cues and
context to make interations efficient
• Users maintain control: Clear permissions – not just „on“ and „blocked“

57. 57
USAGE SCENARIOS
Where bots work
• Quick interactions: The fewer number of required back-and-forth
• Simple interactions: Not many options to choose from (shoe shopping...)
• Context available to bot: Reducing load on user by pulling relevant cues and
context to make interations efficient
• Users maintain control: Clear permissions – not just „on“ and „blocked“
• Users don‘t have investments in existing apps: New or temporary interactions

58. THANK YOU!
Phone: +49 (0)30 / 4004 1922
www.creativeconstruction.de
ALEXANDER BRAUN
@almarrone | alexander@creativeconstruction.de

59. APPENDIX

60. 60
BOT PLATFORMS
• Facebook Bot Engine (https://wit.ai/)
• API.ai: Web-base bot framework (https://docs.api.ai/)
• Microsoft Bot Framework (https://dev.botframework.com/)
• Viv (http://viv.ai/) -> acquired by Samsung

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LINKS & THANKS
http://allthingsd.com/20111011/the-iphone-finds-its-voice/
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/11/06/amazon-introduces-echo-voice-controlled-assistant-home/
https://www.wired.com/2015/08/facebook-launches-m-new-kind-virtual-assistant/
https://www.engadget.com/2015/12/09/microsoft-officially-launches-cortana-on-iphone-and-android/
http://mashable.com/2016/05/18/google-assistant/
https://www.ibm.com/watson/developercloud/conversation.html
http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2016/3/30/chat-bots-conversation-and-ai-as-an-interface
https://techcrunch.com/2015/09/29/forget-apps-now-the-bots-take-over/
http://venturebeat.com/2016/08/02/why-chatbots-are-replacing-apps/
http://venturebeat.com/2016/05/01/the-200-billion-dollar-chatbot-disruption/
http://venturebeat.com/2016/10/23/ai-agents-like-alexa-siri-and-m-will-create-the-first-trillion-dollar-company/
http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/c3/c3305497a908aed0e1792f5d6be8bb85b8878081952e9874ad45fe22692451d0.jpg
http://www.recode.net/2016/10/12/13251618/mossberg-apple-siri-digital-assistant-dumb
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/14/facebook-messenger-spammy-chatbot-must-improve-and-fast
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/29/please-facebook-dont-make-me-speak-to-your-awful-chatbots
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601897/tougher-turing-test-exposes-chatbots-stupidity/
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601329/is-the-chatbot-trend-one-big-misunderstanding/
http://www.geekwire.com/2016/long-journey-facebook-messenger-boss-says-chatbots-got-really-overhyped/
http://venturebeat.com/2016/10/07/lets-be-honest-chatbots-kind-of-suck-for-now/
https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/mt/2015/06/image043/lead_960.jpg?1435096373
https://www.wired.com/2014/01/siri-her-reaction/
https://www.amazon.com/Chatbots-Kundenkommunikation-Xpert-press-German-Alexander/dp/3642624111/
https://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/muiseum/weizenbaum/joseph_pic.jpg
https://knowledgeillusion.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/4966605.gif
https://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/toolsctr/v1r0/topic/uxspi/artwork/cli_commands.jpg
http://www.conceptdraw.com/How-To-Guide/picture/OSX10.10YosemiteApps.png
http://pocketnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/TellMe1.jpg
http://blogs.aspect.com/bot-framework-s-comparison/
http://commonsensereasoning.org/winograd.html
http://opencyc.org/
https://concept.research.microsoft.com/
http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2016/10/10/echo-interfaces-and-friction
https://medium.com/@aeisenberger/messaging-bots-and-slack-a52c894a4b2d#.ot0103mti