Software that holds a text or voice conversation with people, answering questions or completing simple tasks. Older chatbots follow fixed rules and menus; newer ones use AI to understand free-form questions.
Example
On Meera's WhatsApp, a chatbot replies to 'Do you have this in XL?' with a menu: check stock, store timings, talk to staff. It handles the common questions so staff can focus on buyers.
How you'll hear it
“Let the chatbot handle timings and sizes, but hand anything about returns to a person.”
Don't confuse it with
- Conversational AI: the underlying technology that lets a bot understand natural language; not every chatbot uses it.
- AI agent: can plan and take actions across systems, not just reply.