Chatbots are AI-powered software with natural language processing (NLP) that enables them to
understand a text or voice-based prompts and respond accordingly.
They improve various aspects of life and have the potential to do much more.
A common use of chatbots is for customer care, they are integrated into websites,
and sales platforms where they respond to customers’ queries and provide plausible responses.
They enhance customers’ experience as they are available 24/7 with reduced response time and answer promptly.
These chatbots also serve as virtual assistants, as they can deliver even minute tasks effectively and efficiently. Such tasks as scheduling appointments and the associated reminders, and order tracking among others.
While they are helpful, there are ethical concerns to be considered, such as privacy, data protection, and bias.
Now, because these chatbots are optimized to give an improved personalized experience, they amass as much client data as possible and this poses a great risk to the user if this information is not handled appropriately.
It is therefore pertinent that these ethical considerations are looked into during chatbot design and development to ensure it addresses these concerns, starting with transparency.
A chatbot should be designed to clearly state that it is a non-human, as well as its capabilities and limitations.
Then, it should inform the user of the information it collects, and how that information is used and subsequently saved.
And because every piece of information is personal information, it must be designed with privacy and security considerations in mind.
Data protection measures should be implemented, encryption is one way this can be done. Also, users must be notified of every piece of information collected and their permission obtained before said data is collected or shared. Users can also choose to delete this information at will.
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