![Chatbot Trends in 2018.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmagD5uCNqJs88avGZLZ8TVuJBzfJNmrFw9bBEFYRsftcW/Chatbot%20Trends%20in%202018.jpg) Chatbots are computer programs that conduct a conversation through textual or auditory methods. These programs are frequently created to persuasively pretend a human behavior as a conversational partner, thus passing Turing test. They are being used in almost every industry. Hence, the importance of chatbots is increasing day by day. Therefore, it is important for all industries to keep an eye on the latest chatbots trends this year. In order to help you out, we are presenting the list of top four chatbot trends.

1. Progression in AI development

AI technology was in its early stages in 2017, and there was no Chatbot that could pass Turing test. Nevertheless, there are a few progressions in AI development. The most significant news would be the new paper printed by Google DeepMind about AlphaGo Zero. It was developed without utilizing information from human games. It turned out to be stronger than any prior form. The announcement of AlphaGo Zero could possibly modify the way we will create AI software in the coming time period. This will lead to less critical data and the objective would be to look for use cases where you could attain a high volume of iterations. Therefore, the AI system could recapitulate quick enough to progress itself. This is a significant advantage for chatbot development, because of the massive level of conversations a chatbot could have with the users. However, we still have to point out the technique to authenticate the answers. In the coming time period, we will witness more progressions in AI that can enhance the conversational capabilities of a chatbot.

2. Voice Experiences Going Mainstream

Last year, was considered to be a very good year for voice interfaces because of the efforts of Big Corps like Google and Amazon to increase the market share for smart speakers. The official data by Amazon, more than 20M Echo devices were sold and more than 20K skills were available on Alexa Store. On the contrary, Google is trying to make its helpers available on all Android gadgets such as smart speakers, smart TV, Android Wear and Smartphones etc.

3. Early Winners in Conversational Interfaces

Many companies comprehended that NLP is not prepared yet so they began to test with the methodology of Conversational Interfaces also known as interface-based chatbots. Last year, we have witnessed a lot of thought-provoking new uses cases regarding CI. Among these different cases, sales and marketing were the most popular. Companies like iAdvize and Drift are betting big on the so-called conversational marketing to assist businesses to get freedom from annoying types of conversations. So, a new trend has emerged regarding building hyper-personalized experiences with the growth of conversational websites. In this year, we will continue to see strong growth in conversational interfaces where a few players will turn out to be early winners of the market.

4. Blockchain the Surprising Ally for Chatbot

Lastly, we all have witnessed the excellent growth of cryptocurrencies where Etherum and Bitcoins made headlines. Bitcoin crossed eighteen thousand dollars milestone. We are expected to witness blockchain rapidly transforming technology landscape. A few participants in chatbot area have already begun to explore this new technology. Let’s take an example of kik, that launched its own crypto-token called “KIP”. It raised 100M$ to develop the virtual economy in its messaging platform. They introduced the Sense token to give its human network of advice providers’ enticement to utilize the bot and continue offering advice on topics like relationships and memes. With the incessant progress of blockchain, it is expected that chatbot development companies will take benefit of cryptocurrencies to reinforce their value proposition.