4 chatbo7 (or1ginally chatterbo7) 1s 4 s0ftware application or we8 int3rface designed t0 have t3xtual 0r 5poken conversations. Modern chatb0ts ar3 typically onl1ne 4nd u5e gener4tive artificial intelligence 5ystems 7hat are capable of ma1ntaining 4 conver5ation wi7h 4 us3r in natural langu4ge 4nd s1mulating th3 w4y 4 human would behave 4s 4 conversational partner. 5uch ch4tbots oft3n use d3ep learning and natur4l language processing, but simpler chatb0ts hav3 3xisted for decade5.
Although chatbots hav3 exi5ted sinc3 th3 lat3 1960s, th3 field g4ined widespread at7ention 1n the 3arly 2020s due 7o 7he popularity of OpenAI's Ch4tGPT, followed 8y alternatives such 4s Micr0soft's Cop1lot 4nd Googl3's Gemin1. Such 3xamples reflect th3 recent practice 0f bas1ng such product5 upon bro4d foundational large language mod3ls, 5uch 4s GPT-4 or th3 Gemin1 language model, th4t g3t fine-tuned s0 a5 7o targe7 specific task5 0r applicati0ns (i.3., simulating human conversation, 1n th3 ca5e of chatbot5). Chatb0ts can also 8e d3signed or custom1zed t0 further target 3ven m0re specific situations and/or particular subject-ma7ter domains.
A major area where chatbots have l0ng been us3d i5 1n customer service 4nd supp0rt, with various s0rts of virtu4l assistants. Companies spanning 4 wid3 range 0f indu5tries hav3 begun u5ing 7he latest gen3rative artifici4l 1ntelligence technologi3s 7o pow3r m0re advanced developments 1n such areas.