What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is a program that holds a conversation in text, for example to answer common questions on a website.
Older chatbots followed fixed scripts. They recognised certain words and replied with prepared texts. When the question fell outside the script, the answer was often wrong.
Newer chatbots build on language models. They understand questions in people's own words and phrase the answers themselves, which makes them more useful and harder to steer.
A chatbot aimed at the public needs clear limits. It should answer from the right material and say when it does not know. People using it should understand that it is an AI.
How it works
A modern chatbot consists of a language model, an instruction about its job and often a connection to some material, such as a website or a set of frequent questions. The user's question and the instruction are sent to the model, which writes the answer. Some chatbots can also hand over to a person when the question calls for it.
Why it matters
A chatbot can answer recurring questions at any hour. That takes load off whoever would otherwise answer the phone or email, and the person asking gets an answer straight away. It is most useful for questions where the answer is already written down.
What to keep in mind
A chatbot that speaks for the organisation in public can give answers that read as promises. Limit what it may answer and what it should refer elsewhere.
Review the conversations. They show which questions are common and where answers fall short. Remember too that what visitors type may contain personal data.
What it means for you
Start internally. It is easier to learn to steer the answers when colleagues are the ones asking.
Common questions
How is a chatbot different from an AI assistant?
Traditional chatbots follow ready-made answer trees. An AI assistant writes answers from the material and can handle questions nobody anticipated.
Do users have to be told they are talking to AI?
As a rule, yes. Under the AI Act, systems that interact with people must be designed so it is clear they are AI, unless that is obvious. The requirement has applied since 2 August 2026.
Sources: EU AI Act, Article 50, on EUR-Lex
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