Facebook gave hope to many businesses when they announced their intention to provide a platform for Facebook Messenger bots. Beginning in early 2016, businesses began developing full and quasi-intelligent virtual assistants to help users through the messenger app. Some bots help businesses automate requests whereas others are specifically designed to better serve users by learning about their preferences. Bots were created to fulfill food orders in restaurants, schedule appointments, and become familiar with user’s purchase preferences.
Today there are over a thousand bots that have been created by businesses. Users can begin working with any of these bots by just logging into the messenger app and talking to any bot they choose. With so many Facebook Messenger bots to choose from, how do you decide which ones to use? Some are obvious choices. For instance, if you are craving a meal from Burger King, you will talk to their bot to set up your order. But others perform similar tasks, so it is best to know which bots perform better than others. Here are the 6 best bots of 2017:
Lara
Looking for love? Without bots, messaging through Facebook messenger is usually limited to speaking with people you are already friends with. A dating bot called Lara can now help you speak with people outside of your social circles to potentially find love. Developed by Match, the bot asks you questions to learn more about your dating preferences and your personality. It then makes suggestions of potential matches based on what it has learned about you and them.
TransferWise
If you are looking to transfer money to friends or colleagues, this bot will securely and safely help you with this task. Money can be transferred to any one of 40 different currencies, which allows transfers to happen much more cheaply than if handled at the bank. Although TransferWise’s website is very easy to navigate, having a bot in the messenger app allows users to quickly and easily make monetary transfers without having to switch gears mid-conversation.
Genius
As part of National Geographic’s recent magazine spread and television show dedicated to geniuses, the organization created a Facebook Messenger bot that allows you to learn about and “talk” with Einstein. The bot gives you information on his life as well as allows you to speak back and forth with the Einstein bot. He even sometimes sends gifs from the television show. Although the bot misses the mark with questions sometimes, it often gives very insightful information.
Mitsuku
One of the most humanlike chat bots was developed in 2006, and was recently brought to Facebook messenger. Mitsuku allows users to have one on one conversations with a relatively intelligent bot that can use basic reasoning skills, play games, or answer questions. The development team won the Loebner prize in 2013 and 2016 for creating a very humanlike chat bot.
Moji Hunt
If you are seeking entertainment and love using emojis, you will love Moji Hunt. The game works by typing in certain emojis in the messenger when requested. The game follows a storyline that is peppered with entertaining gifs. Leo Kangin, the bot’s developer, says he was inspired by the connect-3 type games that are commonly utilized in games like Candy Crush. Although the bot only contains a limited number of levels, the app saw 300k users within the first two months of its development.
Poncho
For those interested in checking the weather, the Poncho bot sends you updates on the weather with an entertaining twist. A poncho wearing cat will send you the forecast in the morning and/or evening with the weather for the next day and the current weather for your location. It will also send you severe weather updates, and will let you know if the weather will be appropriate for jogging. But the bot can also provide you with entertainment. You can ask it to tell you a joke, “make” you a pizza, or play games. Currently, the bot is rated #1 on ChatBottle. Here is one of Poncho’s jokes: “Where does the king keep his armies? Up his sleevies!”