This article elaborates on how to make the Agent more human-like and personalized.
In order to improve the bot’s credibility and the bot user – Agent interaction in general, it’s important to create the bot’s personality, thus making it more human-like. The agent’s personality can correlate with the values of the company that it represents. A personalized Agent will be on the same page with the Bot User if its logic and communication style are similar to those of the target audience.
Also, the Agent’s personality might be defined by its goal. Keeping in mind what the Bot Users want, you can develop an Agent’s strategy for this particular target audience. For example, a bot designed to provide services can be instructed only to respond to the client’s requests, while a sales bot can play a more active role, e.g. initiating a dialog.
A communication style is chosen in compliance with the Agent’s goal. It can be a business (characterized by stylistically neutral vocabulary) or an informal style (colloquial vocabulary, slang, jokes, etc.).
The following points should be considered while creating the Agent’s personality:
- Field of use. For example, informal style and humor are not appropriate in the legal field.
- Target audience. For example, the elderly audience may not understand slang and neologisms.
- Tasks. For example, the communication style of the Agent which is designed to help clients buy clothes will be different from that of the Agent which helps them buy medical equipment.
- Variations within a scenario. For example, a push notification chatbot uses different communication styles to notify a client about a party and about a business meeting.
- Cultural peculiarities. For example, certain types of addressing people which are acceptable in one culture can be inappropriate in another.
- Current brand policy. An Agent representing a brand whose image is based on such values as friendliness and empathy is supposed to possess the same characteristics.
- Core values and purpose of the service. For example, the main purpose of an Agent designed for a weather service is to provide weather forecasts and to hold a casual conversation.
The key rule that needs to be observed is to maintain the same communication style throughout the dialog.
Small talk
An important part of the Agent’s personality is small talk. Small talk makes the interaction with a chatbot more lively and human-like.
Small talk intents are intents different from the chatbot’s main theme. They include greetings and saying goodbye, expressing gratitude asking questions about weather and hobbies, etc. These are the Agent’s answers which express their personality most vividly.
Appropriateness, number and type of small talk intents as well as Agent’s responses are defined by several factors, such as the field of use and tasks of the Agent, target audience of the Agent, its preferences and needs. Examples of the Agent’s responses to small talk intents:
| Intent | Bot User’s phrases | Bot’s answers (official style) | Bot’s answers (informal style) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greetings | Hi Hello | Good day! Hello! | Hey there! What’s up? |
| Saying goodbye | Bye Goodbye | Goodbye! See you later! | See ya! Bye now! Take care! |
| Expressing gratitude | Thanks a lot Thank you | It is my pleasure to help you! I was glad to help you! | You bet! Glad to be of service! |