The Top 10 AI-Powered Chatbots in 2024

The swift progression of artificial intelligence has markedly altered how chatbots operate. With technologies such as natural language processing and machine learning models, AI-powered chatbots can identify context, patterns, and relationships to generate more meaningful responses.

Today, AI-powered chatbots have numerous use cases, including lead generation, customer support, appointment scheduling, information retrieval, and more. In the healthcare sector, chatbots can answer basic queries, direct patients to more resources, or connect them with healthcare practitioners.

As virtual assistants, chatbots can analyse individual behaviours, habits, and preferences and perform tasks such as organising schedules and setting alarms to deliver a personalised experience.

From Microsoft’s AI platform to Perplexity, we help you uncover the best AI chatbots of 2024. We also let you know how chatbots have evolved and how they can be integrated into business strategies.

Table of contents:

1. Microsoft’s Azure AI platform
2. OpenAI's ChatGPT
3. Apple's conversational AI (Siri)
4. Amazon's Alexa
5. Google Bard
6. Meta AI
7. ChatSpot
8. Microsoft's Bing Chat
9. Jasper Chat
10. Perplexity

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1. Microsoft’s Azure AI platform

Microsoft's Azure AI platform is a comprehensive framework, providing innovative AI solutions such as machine learning and conversational AI for organisations and developers to assist them in incorporating artificial intelligence into their operations.

For instance, Azure AI features an integrated development environment for building bots. Azure AI is also compatible with Power Virtual Agents, Microsoft's low-code platform, enabling individuals with little coding experience to create chatbots.

Features

• Easy-to-use interface. Microsoft's low-code platform (Power Virtual Agents) makes it simpler for developers to build, test, and deploy AI-driven chatbots.
• Centralised management. You can utilise Microsoft's centralised control panel to manage various aspects of your chatbots.
• Multichannel experiences. Azure AI enables you to deploy bots on various platforms without writing additional code.
• Enhanced collaboration. Microsoft offers a range of tools that allow individuals to collaborate on building bots.

Price

• Azure AI charges US$0.50 per 1,000 messages.

2. OpenAI's ChatGPT

Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT is amongst the most popular AI-powered apps, delivering conversational experiences to users. It reached one million users five days after launch and has since then surpassed 100 million users.

Its capability to process and interpret user inputs in real time, recognise context, and produce meaningful responses places it amongst the top AI-driven chatbots of 2023. ChatGPT can also adapt to changing user inputs and manage more complex interactions.

Features

• Natural language processing (NLP). ChatGPT utilises NLP technology and machine learning models such as GPT-3.5 and GPT-4—behind the scenes—which enables it to analyse and process inputs and generate corresponding outputs.
• Multilingual support. ChatGPT can produce text outputs in multiple languages including English, Spanish, German, and French.
• Creative offering. Whilst it can't be compared to human creativity, ChatGPT can still generate poems, song lyrics, jokes, and stories.
• Sentiment analysis. ChatGPT can identify positive and negative sentiments from text.
• Personalised responses. If you inform ChatGPT of your favoured tone or brand content style, it can adjust to these preferences and generate pertinent outputs.

Price

• ChatGPT has a complimentary version. However, users can still upgrade to ChatGPT Plus for US$20 per month to access a more advanced ML model: GPT-4.

3. Apple's conversational AI (Siri)

Apple's Siri is a conversational AI chatbot that listens to users' voice commands, interprets them and performs actions based on these inputs. Siri can carry out a broad range of tasks, including playing music, setting timers, converting measurements, making calls, and providing driving directions.

Features

• Voice recognition and interaction. Siri can react to voice commands, allowing it to offer advanced conversational experiences.
• Language translation. Siri can assist in translating words from one language to another.
• Navigation. Siri can link up with Apple Maps and give directions to users.
• Voice dictation. With speech-to-text technology, Siri allows users to compose emails, messages, or other content.
• Home automation. Siri can be linked with other Apple products to assist users in managing their homes through voice commands.

Price

• Siri is available at no cost—but only for those with Apple devices.

4. Amazon's Alexa

Amazon Alexa is a virtual assistant powered by artificial intelligence and components such as natural language understanding (NLU), deep learning, and machine learning algorithms—which enables it to process and interpret human language and produce responses with a natural conversational flow. Alexa can carry out various tasks, including playing music, answering questions, and setting alarms and reminders.

Features

• Smart home automation. Alexa is compatible with various sensors and devices, enabling users to control different aspects of their home using voice commands.
• Information retrieval. Alexa can supply information such as news updates, sports results, weather forecasts, and traffic conditions.
• Contextual interpretation. Amazon's Alexa can recognise context and monitor previous user inputs, which allows it to offer more interactive conversational experiences.
• Language translation. Individuals can utilise Alexa to translate text in various languages.
• Guard mode. Alexa can listen out for unusual noises in the house and alert homeowners.

Price

• Alexa is accessible on supported Amazon products such as Amazon Echo, which have differing prices.

5. Google’s Bard

Google's Bard is powered by PaLM 2, a large language model that enables it to process user inputs and answer questions in a conversational manner. It can generate creative content such as song lyrics, poems, fictional stories, blog posts, and code snippets. Google Bard is adept at trawling the internet, which enables it to supply current information to queries.

Features

• Multilingual support. Google's Bard supports approximately forty languages and provides translation.
• Image and video analysis. You can utilise Bard's integration with Google Lens to provide you with a detailed description of an image or video.
• Voice support. Aside from text, individuals can utilise their voices to give commands.
• Multiple integrations. Google Bard can be integrated into other popular applications such as Google Docs, Gmail and Drive, thereby aiding users in increasing their productivity.

Price

• Google's Bard is still in the experimental phase and currently available at no cost.

6. Meta AI

Meta AI (formerly Facebook Messenger) enables individuals and organisations to create chatbots to enhance user engagement and interactions. Developers can establish guidelines to direct how these bots respond to users or link them to a knowledge database to manage more dynamic interactions. Translate Meta AI also features a centralised dashboard, allowing businesses to monitor key metrics, including how users interact with the bot.

Features

• Open source. Meta's Llama 2, a large language model for chatbots, is open source, allowing individuals to utilise it for personal or commercial activities for free.
• Customisation. Businesses can adapt chatbots powered by MetaAI to fit their requirements.
• Integrations. Meta AI can be incorporated into CRM (customer relationship management) systems, knowledge bases, and other business systems, enabling chatbots to deliver personalised conversational experiences.

Price

• Meta AI's model, Llama 2 for chatbots, is free of charge.

7. ChatSpot

ChatSpot's AI-driven chatbot is primarily for sales and marketing teams seeking to boost customer satisfaction and engagement. It's based on ChatGPT and can accommodate various data sources, enabling organisations to deliver meaningful user responses.

Features

• Customised for business. ChatSpot offers a range of tools to enhance engagement and track customer interactions.
• Analytics. ChatSpot analyses data and provides vital insight, enabling businesses to make informed decisions.
• Prompt templates. ChatSpot provides a list of prompts individuals can utilise to generate meaningful responses.
• Content generation. Aside from chat functions, users can also create images, tweets, and blog posts.
• Marketing recommendations. ChatSpot can assist marketing teams in identifying keywords and analysing competitor's strategies.

Price

• ChatSpot is still in beta. You can give it a go for free.

8. Microsoft's Bing Chat

Powered by OpenAI's GPT-4 algorithm, Bing Chat utilises artificial intelligence to process user inputs and generate responses. Aside from text, Bing Chat can also display images via Bing Image Creator, enabling individuals to gain deeper insights from their inputs.

Features

• Contextual understanding. Bing Chat can keep track of user intentions and context and provide conversational experiences with a natural flow.
• Browser integration. It's directly integrated into the Microsoft Edge browser, allowing individuals to get real-time answers to their queries without opening other third-party apps.
• Visual search. Users can upload images and ask questions about them.

Price

• Microsoft's Bing Chat is available at no cost.

9. Jasper Chat

Jasper Chat is a comprehensive AI platform that carries out a range of tasks, including generating content such as blog and social media posts, providing responses to user prompts, and summarising information.

Features

• Information base. Jasper Chat is trained on extensive datasets of videos, articles and forums, which enables it to process customer queries and provide helpful responses.
• Easy-to-use interface. Translate It features a straightforward user interface, permitting individuals to input their data and access pertinent responses with ease.
• Customisation. Jasper Chat can be further trained using data from CRM systems, enabling it to deliver responses and content that align with a specific brand.
• API. Businesses can utilise Jasper API to integrate chat functionality into their applications.

Price

Jasper Chat is available in the following pricing plans. (Discounts available for yearly billing.)

• Creator for US$39 per month
• Teams for US$99 per month
• Business for a bespoke price quote

10. Perplexity

Perplexity is powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning models such as GPT-4 and Claude 2, enabling it to provide information on a broad range of topics swiftly. It can also analyse user inputs, preferences, and habits to provide a personalised experience.

Features

• Session storage. The My Threads feature enables users to save and access their search queries and results at any time.
• Perplexity Discover. Perplexity summarises news updates, the latest developments in various industries, and popular searches, aiding users in understanding what's happening around them.
• File upload. Users can upload documents on Perplexity and carry out various actions, including summarising information.
• AI profile. Users can input personal details or business information on a separate profile page and generate personalised results.

Price

• Perplexity is available at no cost, but users also have the option to upgrade to the Pro plan for US$20 per month.

Evolution of AI-powered chatbots

In the past, businesses depended on rule-based chatbots for customer support. These traditional chatbots used pre-set answers to generate responses to customer enquiries. Such chatbots could analyse user inputs for certain keywords or phrases and refer to their database for an appropriate scripted response.

Although they offered a degree of help, traditional chatbots were inflexible and unable to adapt to changing user inputs. They also had a limited contextual understanding, which permitted them to manage only simple interactions.

Incorporating artificial intelligence into chatbots enabled them to process and interpret user inputs much more effectively. With natural language processing, deep learning, and machine learning algorithms, AI-powered chatbots can enhance user experiences by generating more relevant responses. These chatbots can also process new data and adapt to emerging situations, enabling them to handle complex interactions.

In the future, AI technology is anticipated to continue positively shaping customer experiences. Since AI tools are available 24/7, they can provide consistent customer support even when staff members take a break.

AI-powered virtual assistants will utilise speech recognition, computer vision, and text-to-speech technologies to provide more use cases and carry out more complex actions. However, this does not imply that AI is replacing human agents. AI will serve as a supplementary tool, aiding employees to be more inventive and efficient.

Implementing AI chatbots

Implementing artificial intelligence into your workplace can help streamline numerous business operations. Here are steps for integrating AI chatbots into your workflow successfully.

1. Have clear objectives. Knowing what you want to achieve can help you avoid distractions. It also enables you to identify relevant AI tools to achieve your objectives.
2. Assess your resources. Examine your current business resources and ascertain if your requirements and skills are compatible with new AI technologies.
3. Train your team. Employees need technical skills to get the most out of AI technologies. Assess your team's expertise and conduct relevant training to help them work effectively with AI tools.
4. Identify use cases. Whether for customer support, e-commerce FAQ, task automation, or other purposes, you must determine how you intend to use AI chatbots to address business issues.
5. Formulate a data strategy. Although most AI chatbots are already trained on large datasets, you can customise them further using your business data. Determine the type of data you will utilise for training and how you will gather, validate, and store the data.
6. Pilot and test. Don't delegate all your services to AI chatbots all at once. Instead, trial things out with smaller tasks and use the results to guide further implementation.
7. Deploy the AI chatbot. If the outcomes from the pilot stages are satisfactory, you can go ahead to deploy the AI chatbot to your website or mobile apps. Monitor how the chatbot performs during this phase and carry out any necessary optimisations.

Collaborate with leading AI chatbot experts today

AI-powered chatbots enable you to automate repetitive tasks, enhance efficiency and reduce costs, boost customer engagement and satisfaction, and provide product recommendations. Advanced AI tools can also carry out certain tasks quicker and more precisely, giving you a competitive edge over your competitors.

As powerful as they are, AI chatbots still can't carry out all business activities without intervention from live agents. AI technology is subject to errors, bugs, and inaccuracies. As a result, you require a robust team with the appropriate skills and knowledge to oversee operations. AI is not here to supplant employees, but to assist employees in becoming more efficient and concentrating on more significant tasks.

Upwork can connect you to qualified AI chatbot specialists to help you get the most out of AI technologies. Get started today.

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