Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Chatbots' online takeover still some way off, according to new study

Chatbots' online takeover still some way off, according to new study

The German university’s study found that users’ negative reactions to unknowingly interacting with chatbots rose according to how critical they deemed the service query.

Designed to mimic human-like interactions by way of text messages or online chat windows, chatbots are rapidly becoming the first - and sometimes the only - point of engagement with web-based customer services across healthcare, retail, government, banking, and more.¨

Advances in artificial intelligence and natural language processing, plus a global pandemic that stripped human contact back to the bare minimum, have all put the chatbot centre-stage in online interactions, marking it as an essential part of the future.

But new research from the University of Göttingen suggests humans aren’t ready for the chatbot to take over just yet - especially not without prior knowledge of its presence behind interactions.

The two-part study published in the Journal of Service Management found that users reacted negatively once they learned that they were in communication with chatbots during an exchange online.

However, when a chatbot made a mistake or could not fulfil a customer’s request, but did disclose the fact that it was a bot, users’ reactions tended to be more positive with the knowledge and more accepting of the outcome.

The German university’s research, published in the Journal of Service Management, found that users’ negative reactions rose in line with how critical or important they deemed their service query to be.

A chatbot interface in action.


More forgiving to chatbots


Each study had 200 participants in a scenario where they contacted their energy supplier via online chat to update addresses on their electricity contracts after moving house.

Half of the respondents were informed that they were interacting with a chatbot while the other half were not.

"If their issue isn’t resolved, disclosing that they were talking with a chatbot, makes it easier for the consumer to understand the root cause of the error," Nika Mozafari, lead author of the research, said.

"A chatbot is more likely to be forgiven for making a mistake than a human".

Researchers also suggested that customer loyalty could even improve after such encounters, where users are made aware of what they are dealing with in good time.

As a measure of the growing sophistication of and investment in chatbots, the Göttingen study comes within days of Facebook announcing an update of its open-source Blender Bot, launched last April.

"Blender Bot 2.0 is the first chatbot that can simultaneously build long-term memory it can continually access, search the internet for timely information and have sophisticated conversations on nearly any topic," the social media giant said on its Facebook AI blog.

Facebook AI research scientist and research engineer Jason Weston and Kurt Shuster, said that current chatbots, including the original Blender Bot 1.0, "are capable of expressing themselves articulately in ongoing conversations and can generate realistic looking text, but have "goldfish memories".

Work is also continuing on eliminating repetition and contradiction from longer conversations, they said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
×