1 Introduction to virtual assistants
This chapter covers:
- Listing the types of virtual assistants and their platforms
- Classifying a virtual assistant as a conversational assistant, a command interpreter, or an event classifier
- Recognizing virtual assistants that you already interact with
- Differentiating between questions that have a simple response versus those that require a process flow
- Describing what happens when you mark an email as spam and when you block an email sender.
Virtual assistants are an exciting new technology being used in an increasing number of places and use cases. The odds are good that you have interacted with a virtual assistant. From the assistants on our phones (Hey Siri!), to automated customer service agents, to email filtering systems, virtual assistant technology is widespread and growing in use.
In this book, you will learn about how and why virtual assistants' work. You will learn the types of use cases where virtual assistant technology is appropriate and how to effectively apply the technology. You will learn how to develop, train, test, and improve your virtual assistant. Finally, you will learn about advanced topics including enabling a voice channel for your virtual assistant and how to deeply analyze your virtual assistant's performance.