Results from our short survey into chatbots

Here are the raw results from our short survey into chatbots. We’ll be looking at these in more detail, and comparing it to similar surveys, in a future episode of the Cherryleaf podcast.

Additional Comments

One of my bosses has been swept up in the current craze for chats and chatbots but fortunately he is short on time. I don’t really want to be involved in chatbots, because I think they will be a lot of work and I don’t know if they will be that useful.
When saying above that I don’t want to work on chatbots, it’s not entirely true. It’s just that there is a lot of focus on chatbots and many brilliant people already doing good work in the area. I currently think I can contribute more by advocating for using other forms of communication where appropriate, as I believe that the conversational format is good for some purposes, but less effective for others.
I’m currently changing my larger ‘Helps’ into ‘articles’ or snippets of information designed to show up when the customer needs them. This is not a chatbot but it is a step towards the automation of responses.
Interested in applications of chatbots and how to get involved
Wait and see
In answer to the question “What is your involvement in developing chatbots?”, if the option had existed then I would have said “I’m not involved in developing chatbots now but with more information, I might consider it in future”.
Chatbots have been discussed, and I know people who currently build them as a hobby. I think they’re coming, just not in my area yet. I definitely take an interest in them.
It hadn’t occurred to me that a chatbot might be a good way to document a software product until I saw your newsletter. Now it seems obvious, and as I have extensive (traditional) AI experience, using one for a real documentation task would be a fun challenge: I doubt it’s so easy to do it well, but it’s not obvious what the pitfalls would be until I’ve tried it.
There are several separate chatbot projects ongoing at my large software company. We are pushing for involvement, particularly for providing customer-facing content.
Have been in the software industry only for a 1.5 years, that’s why the “zero knowledge” 🙂
In my job as a tech writer, I’m on a team that’s developing chatbots and I also do documentation related to it.

Your job title

Technical Author (23)
Technical Writer (24)
Senior Technical Writer (14)
Principal Technical Writer (3)
Senior Technical Author (3)
Documentation Specialist (2)
Documentation Manager (2)
Project Manager (2)
Product Lead
Managing Director
Information architect
Marketing Operations Manager
Technical Communications Consultant
Technical Support Specialist
Director, UX Writing and User Assistance
Sr. Business Systems Analyst/Scrum Master
Information Designer
Technical Communications Manager
Senior content developer
Instructional designer
Head of Doc Dept.
Technical Publications Officer
Agile Writer
New Kitten Owner
TCS
Maker of Chatbots
Director, User Enablement
Technical Writer Team Manager
Senior Content Specialist
Knowledge Manager
Senior Manager, Technical Documentation
Associate Technical Writer
Unemployed
Important tech author
Financial Technical Writer
Lead Technical Writer
Manager, Information Development
Manager, ISD/Documentation
Quality Development Manager
Technical Communicator
Lead Content Developer
Technical Writer and Business Analyst
UX designer
Technical communicator
Newsletter Compositor
IT Consultant
UX Writer/Content Strategist
Tech Author Team Lead
Content Developer
Manager, Technical Authoring
Content manager
Information Architect
TECHNICAL EDITOR
Principal Tech Communicator
DIGITAL CONTENT SPECIALIST
Business owner
Editor
Documentation Manager/Technical Writer
Information and communications exec
Director
Innovation Director
Recruiter/Linguist
Business Support Adviser
Engineering manager
Instructional Designer

Which industry sector do you work in?

Software (14)
IT (9)
Healthcare (4)
Software development (4)
Software (3)
Technology (3)
Software Development (2)
Financial (2)
Telecoms (2)
Finance (2)
Cybersecurity
SaaS
Semiconductors
Cloud Software
Software/Construction
Water
Education
Financial services
Telecommunications
Commercial Real Estate
Information Technology
IT (software)
Accounting software
Engineering
High Tech – Biometrics
Software/Transportation
Defence
Software Development f. Insurance Companies
IPTV
Potentially all
Medical
Communications (video conf)
Software and services
Mfg
Western Politika
Hrdware/software
software
Financial, medical, and software consulting
It – software
Scientific software
Home bargains
IT & internet security
Travel
Local Government
Software technology
Hardware/Software development
Healthcare IT
Semiconductors
Healthcare (Public sector)
IT Software
Nkne
Software Development company
IT – Finance
Industrial controls manufacturing
Non-profit
Currently Travel
eLearning
Marketing Software
Hardware/Software Texhnology
IT/Software
Software development, blockchain based data security systems
IT- Finance sector
MACHINE TOOL
Internet
Internet technology
ENGINEERING
Business management software
IT – air traffic management and telecommunications
Payment systems
cross-sector, business consultant
Software development (for P&C insurance)
Software (internet and telecoms networking)
Software development for travel industry
Software – virtual assistants
Computer software – Security
Financial services
Business travel management
Information Technology (Software)
Manufacturing
Enterprise software
Digital Communications
Government
Aviation

In which country do you live?