Chatbots are a type of computer program that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to understand and respond to spoken or written language, which can be programmed to reply to simple keywords or hold intricate conversations about specific domains of knowledge. Since their implementation, chatbots have been reported to save as much as 30% in customer service costs. While they are increasingly ubiquitous, chatbots still must be delicately programmed as to provide the best user-flow to prevent recursive conversation, frustrated clicks, and keyboard smashing.

You will learn how to create a custom conversational AI chatbot knowledge base using Rasa, an open source chatbot framework and how to integrate this chatbot into a Drupal website using the Component module and JavaScript.

Topics covered will include:
- A gentle introduction to Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing
- How conversational AI chatbots work
- How to develop a knowledge/conversation base
- Brief discussion of the different chatbots available
- An overview of Rasa, an open source conversational AI chatbot framework
- How to add a Rasa chatbot to a Drupal website
- How to continually improve a chatbot through Conversation Driven Development

Presenter
Rick Torzynski of Esteemed

With over 12 years of Drupal experience and over 25 years of web programming experience, Rick Torzynski is a Senior Drupal Developer at ECS, and has worked for companies such as SpinSpire, Florida Blue, Scribe Fusion, and APR Energy. He has an M.A. in Psychology with an emphasis on statistics and research methodology. In his spare time, he works on IoT Edge devices (Raspberry Pi, Jetson Nano, OAK-D Spatial Camera), and is a Luthier – a maker of hand-crafted mandolins, guitars, and cigar-box instruments.

https://www.drupalasheville.com/2022/session/creating-custom-rasa-conversational-ai-chatbot-drupal-websites