With artificial intelligence (AI) capturing the minds and hearts of millions of users worldwide, chatbots have been getting little to no visibility these days. With Kern Elliott, of iGovTT in Trinidad and Tobago, we discuss chatbots and AI, and among other things: which one is better; some of the assumptions people tend to make about AI and chatbots; balancing the growing emphasis on privacy and data protection in an increasingly Ai-driven world; and what organisations ought to include in their AI policies.

 

This episode is also available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Stitcher!

Chatbots, remember them? They may be the interactive platform, that gave many of us an early inkling of the potential of the Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms that we currently enjoy.

However, it could be argued that generative AI and LLMs have far exceeded the power and capabilities of chatbots, with the latter verging on obsolescence. Having said this, chatbots are still the norm on websites, which suggests that the technology may be able to hold its own against the powerful and charismatic content AI can generate.

In this podcast episode, we pit chatbots against generative AI to see which one could come out on top in the workplace.

 

Introducing our guest

Kern Elliott

Kern Elliott is the Team Lead of the Solutions Architect Office, at the National Information and Communication Technology Company Limited, more commonly known as iGovTT, and has been with the organisation for nearly 20 years. In his current role, Kern leads a multidisciplinary team of policymakers, developers, designers and analysts, which together design and develop applications to be used by various Ministries and State Agencies. iGovTT’s primary business is the design, procurement, project management, implementation, and maintenance of enterprise-wide and major ICT solutions for the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.

In addition to his work at iGovTT, Kern is a speaker and mentor. His areas of expertise include system analysis, JavaScript development, data analytics, chatbot and live chat development and implementation.

 

Insights into our conversation

Chatting with Kern is always fun. Moreover, he brings useful and practical insights to the table, thanks to his work within iGovTT and working directly with chatbots and AI to allow both public servants and the public to optimise processes and access useful information more efficiently, and to improve their productivity.

With the emergence of generative AI, chatbots seemingly, have been overshadowed, with the former being considered decidedly superior. However, during the course of our conversation, Kern is of the view that chatbots are a powerful tool for which there is still a role in organisations.

Key questions posed to Kern include the following:

  1. For those who have not listed to our earlier conversations, please tell us again what chatbots are, and typically, how and when they are used.
  2. Since we last spoke in 2021, what have been your observations of how chatbots have evolved and are being applied now, as opposed to a few years ago?
  3. What are some of the assumptions people tend to make about AI and chatbots, which you would like to debunk?
  4. Increasingly there is demand for customised services and recommendations. How might organisations be able to balance the large volumes of personal data that is needed to produce relevant and useful offerings, versus the also growing emphasis on privacy and data protection?
  5. Whether we like it or not, it is perhaps becoming increasingly important for organisations to establish some kind of AI policy or guidance for AI use in the workplace. What might be some considerations in terms of whether an organisation needs an AI policy, and what should that policy include?
  6. Currently, some countries are preparing to put guidelines and even legislation in place to guide the continued development of AI. What are your thoughts?
  7. If an organisation is using a chatbot, what would be the next logical steps it should be considering to move to the next level?

 

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Also, if you or a member of your network is interested in joining us for an episode, do get in touch.

Let’s make it happen!

 

Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Images credit:  K Elliott;  Gerd Altmann (Pixabay);  rawpixel (Freepik);  Gerd Altmann (Pixabay)

Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Chérie), by Andy Narrell

Podcast editing support:  Mayra Bonilla Lopez