How do chatbots work?
A rule-based chatbot offers buttons or matches keywords, then follows a script someone wrote, like a decision tree. It’s predictable, but it fails when a question doesn’t fit the script. Asked “can I add my colleague?”, it needs “colleague” in its keyword list to find the article about inviting teammates.
An AI chatbot uses natural language understanding or a large language model to interpret what someone typed, so it can match that question to the right article without the exact words. Many answer from a company’s own content by retrieving relevant passages first, and some can take actions, such as checking an order, through connected tools.
Both kinds should be clear about what they are. Under the EU AI Act, providers of AI systems that interact directly with people must make sure those people are told they’re interacting with an AI system, unless that’s obvious. W3C accessibility guidance adds that chatbots work better for many people, including people with cognitive disabilities, when they recognise misspelled words, give human contact details after three unsuccessful attempts, and can be closed in one step and opened again from a link or button.
How is a chatbot different from a voice agent?
The channel is different. A chatbot answers typed messages that the visitor reads. A voice agent listens to speech and replies aloud, so the visitor can explain a problem in their own words and keep their hands on the task. Typing suits exact details such as error messages, links and code, and talking suits problems that take a few sentences to explain.
Is Kawl Now a chatbot?
Kawl Now is a voice agent for SaaS websites, sometimes called an AI voice chatbot. Visitors type a short topic to start, then talk to the AI through their browser microphone and hear its answers, with live captions if they want them. It has no text chat.
It works like an AI chatbot that answers from approved knowledge: it searches the sources your team has approved for its channel and is told to say when it doesn’t know. The widget tells visitors they’re speaking with AI before the call starts, and the agent is told to say so too.
It doesn’t take actions in your systems. It can’t look up or change accounts, book meetings or connect to other tools. When a caller asks, it can record a bug report, feature request or other feedback on the conversation. If you need typed chat or account actions, run it beside your chatbot or live chat.
Common questions
What is the difference between a chatbot and an AI agent?
The terms overlap. A chatbot is defined by its interface: it holds a conversation. An AI agent is defined by what it does: it works towards a goal, often by calling tools and taking actions. Many AI chatbots are now sold as AI agents, so ask what each one can actually do.
Are chatbots and voice bots the same thing?
They work in a similar way but use different channels. A chatbot answers typed messages, and a voice bot or voice agent listens and speaks. Kawl Now is a voice agent that runs in a widget on your website, with no phone number for customers to call and no text chat.