As AI continues to be all the rage for work, study and even personal use, the best AI development companies in Sri Lanka have also since pivoted to deliver solutions that meet the AI needs of their clientele, no matter how niche.
One such buzzworthy topic in the AI space is that of chatbots and AI agents. Many use these terms interchangeably, but they are in fact different from one another, as specific distinctions make each of them unique both in terms of capability and use case.
In this article, we explain the difference between chatbots and AI agents, the use cases for each, and how each of these communicative technologies can be integrated to create a hybrid.
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Chatbots are a form of technology that can refer to a knowledge base to answer scripted questions. They depend on a predetermined flowchart that incorporates possible questions that may be asked, with answers being served accordingly.
As a result, chatbots require scripts to function optimally, and are suitable for serving answers to common queries. Many no-code platforms are now also popular for building chatbots, via a simple drag-and-drop functionality that even non tech-savvy teams can use.
AI agents are more advanced than chatbots, as they additionally incorporate Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand the context and intent available within queries. As a result, AI agents can handle more complex tasks that are akin to human cognitive thinking and reasoning, by utilising external tools. Subsequently, they can perform tasks based on the conclusions it ascertains (provided it has been authorised to do so) as well as make intelligent and contextually relevant recommendations.
Unlike chatbots, AI agents can be integrated to use external tools to carry out all the actions they are capable of. While no-code AI agent builders are just as popular as their no-code chatbot builder counterparts, the increased complexity of AI agents may likely demand the expertise of an AI and data engineering developer
Although chatbots and AI agents are each distinct on their own, many of their capabilities complement the other. This makes them great companions for serving intricate use cases together, by combining both to create a hybrid agent.
In fact, many offshore software development companies in Sri Lanka train AI models to configure, build and secure a variety of bots/agents, ranging from the spectrum of a chatbot that has basic AI capabilities, to a fully-fledged agent that can supplant manual administration.
Both chatbots and AI agents are best known for serving customers. Being one of the most popular use cases, chatbots and AI agents can ideally function by having the former across customer-facing touchpoints, while the latter does all the heavy lifting at the back.
For example, a basic chatbot can interact with a customer, while their queries are processed by an agent in the back-end to help the chatbot deliver answers that are more specific and useful.
Simultaneously, the agent can also make other recommendations to assist the customer further, along with facilitating supplementary actions such as sharing collateral via email or an IM channel, such as WhatsApp.
The best software companies in Sri Lanka are already infusing AI technologies when building bespoke software for their clientele. AI agents are one of them, as they assist teams with tasks both in the office, and out on the field. In the case of operations and project management, though, a bot may also be in the form of a basic search function that allows teams to search for answers across a large knowledge base.
Take this several notches further, and AI agents can be built to serve operations and project teams to:
In the e-commerce and order fulfilment field, bots can be a highly valuable facilitator of federated search, which can help personnel both inside warehouses and on the field to search for product information. As for AI agents, these can focus on more complex duties, such as:
Fundamental bots may be able to answer direct questions pertaining to preset statistics and KPIs. For more complex analysis (especially across multiple datasets), an AI agent will prove to have more utility value. AI agents can also assist for predictive analytics, by training models with historical data in order to identify patterns and extrapolate.
Additionally, AI agents can autonomously make decisions if a certain threshold is met, by communicating with other integrated tools – requiring no manual intervention in many cases, and only supervision from a team member at best.
Many software development companies in Sri Lanka that also specialise in AI development pay prime focus to intelligent, AI-powered analytics – mainly because it’s a use case that is universally applicable to every company, irrespective of size or industry.
As one of the top software companies in Sri Lanka, EFutures has sustained rapport with clients from around the world, thanks to long-term software offshoring partnerships. This has led us to insights that have made us learn a good thing or two about what businesses need from software offshoring, and how their pain points keep them tethered towards building digital products and services they truly believe will add value to the lives of their customers.
Some of these insights include:
At EFutures, all our clients are presented with the following to ensure they are receiving optimal service, and one that’s conducive to the best offshore software company in Sri Lanka:
Chatbots and AI agents are two business constituents that are as versatile as they are popular, giving organisations much liberty to customise and adapt these systems for a wide range of use cases. If you are looking for the best IT company in Sri Lanka that listens to your bespoke needs as they pertain to bots and AI agents, you need to make sure you have an assessment that elaborates on your pain points and objectives, on the ready.
With chatbots and AI agents now integrated to deliver a hybrid system, it is likely that your business may also need to adopt the same, depending on the requirements identified during the assessment stage. Your software/AI development partner shall be able to advise you on the best course of action regarding this, including releasing beta versions and monitoring usage, before expanding on your AI bot/agent any further.
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