Chatbot
A chatbot is software that exchanges messages with people in a conversational interface. Its replies can come from fixed rules, retrieved information or a language model; conversation alone does not imply autonomous action.
A booking chatbot might ask for a destination and dates, remember the answers and offer matching flights. A rule-based version can fill predefined fields and return scripted replies. A language-model version can handle more varied wording, but still needs an application to track the booking and control access to tools.
The conversational interface is different from the language model behind it. A model can also classify documents without any chat interface. Conversely, a chatbot need not use a large neural model at all.
The distinction matters when assessing capability. A bot that explains a refund policy may only produce text. One that actually issues a refund needs tool access, authorization and a way to verify completion. If it chooses and revises actions toward a goal, it may also be an artificial intelligence (AI) agent. A friendly chat window tells you little about those permissions.
Sources
- Jurafsky and Martin: Frame-Based Dialogue Systems — Describes conversational task systems with dialogue state, slots, policies and response generation.
Go deeper
- What makes an AI agent different from an LLM? AI, decoded · 4 Things That Turn a Model Into an Agent
- Jurafsky and Martin: Conversation and its Structure course
Understand turns, dialogue acts and the structure a conversational interface must manage.