Now you’re talking: How chatbots could help your business

Chatbots are becoming an increasingly important way for businesses to communicate with customers and they offer an ideal starting point for companies to see what artificial intelligence can do, writes Róisín Kiberd

Fergal Reid and Brian Donohue of Intercom Picture: Fergal Phillips

Elon Musk once compared artificial intelligence to summoning a demon. But for now, before the machines gain the will to overpower us, it’s more like summoning a personal assistant – one who is helpful but a little slow-witted, good at specific tasks and generally useless at everything else.

This is a period of transition for AI. While most of the major tech companies have launched virtual assistants, the problems with them to date ...