The widespread use of cell phones and social media has made text-based communication, also known as texting, a mainstream communication method. For example, a [Gallup poll](https://news.gallup.com/poll/179288/new-era-communication-americans.aspx) shows that texting is the dominant communication method for Americans under 50. Popular text messaging platforms, such as Facebook Messenger and WeChat, all boasted over 1 billion active users monthly.

However, a person can hardly text with multiple parties at the same time, let alone do texting 24/7. That’s where chatbots come to the rescue. A chatbot engages a person in one-on-one text messaging to automate various tasks. For example, Sephora uses a Facebook Messenger chatbot to help users [book an in-store makeover](https://www.facebook.com/sephora/), while Kohl’s uses a chatbot to help customers [locate a store or find deals](https://www.facebook.com/kohls).

As a marketing expert pointed out, a chatbot is meant to scale out brand-customer communications and assist customers better. First, a chatbot will never feel tired and can text with hundreds of thousands of users simultaneously to provide them with immediate help. Second, a chatbot will always remain calm and polite to help users even in difficult, emotional situations. Third, a chatbot does not have a personal agenda or ulterior motives and could offer users with objective and fair services.

On the other hand, [studies](https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3300439) show that most chatbots are just bots with little chatting capabilities. For example, [one study](https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/295718/facebookchatbotshit-70-failure-rate-as-consumer.html) shows that 70% of Facebook Messenger chatbots were unable to answer simple questions, and [another study](https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3025780) shows that it is still quite challenging for chatbots to handle a simple task, like scheduling a meeting. Additionally, these limitations cause “chatbot spam” — using chatbots to simply broadcast one-way messages, similar to email spam, but in the form of text messaging.

Although it may take 10 to 500 years to achieve the ultimate [human-machine symbiosis](http://worrydream.com/refs/Licklider%20-%20Man-Computer%20Symbiosis.pdf) envisioned by Licklider, a practical and urgent question seems:

_What can we do today to take full advantage of the good characteristics of chatbots and avoid their bad ones?_

My next post, _AI Chatbots: Their Good Uses_, will attempt to answer the question.