The conversational user interface: A brief history and futurology of chatbots

The short paper provides a brief overview of the history of conversational user interfaces and the recent re-emergence of the ‘chatbot’. Chatbots and smart speakers use natural language processing and understanding (‘AI’) to converse with humans
either using speech or typographical interactions. Human-computer dialogues can be ephemeral or they can be perennial depending on the purpose of the chatbot, whether it be ordering pizza (ephemeral) or a chatbot that coaches a user with mental health and wellbeing content (perhaps more perennial). This paper provides a rapid tour of the history of chatbots from ELIZA to smart speakers, and elicits a series of near future challenges related to conversational user experience, ethics and beyond.