Month: December 2019

A tale of two stores

Imagine you’re in a big store, all alone—just you and a self-checkout machine. 

There’s no one around to care if you buy something or not, if you have questions, or if you’re able to find what you’re looking for. There’s no one to say anything if you leave, and no one cares if you ever come back. How likely are you to make a purchase there?

Many state, county and municipal government agencies across the globe have begun to deploy chatbots, aimed at helping users get more out of online public services such as government websites, in addition to facilitating crime (and pothole!) reporting.