The City of Ā鶹¾«Ń”ās newest employee has been uploaded and theyāre ready to answer frequently asked questions about the cityās COVID-19 response.
Citybot, a chatbot program designed to simulate a human-like conversation, now resides on the homepage of the cityās website. Launched Dec. 7, the city says the bot responded to more than 200 COVID-19-related questions. Currently, the bot has not yet been programmed to discuss non-COVID topics.
āRight now, the Ā鶹¾«Ń” Citybot is programmed to answer questions about COVID-19 and is being monitored and trained by staff to become better over time,ā said Andreas Boehm, intelligent cities manager at the City of Ā鶹¾«Ń”. āWe wanted to start small because we are still learning, as is the chatbot. Citybot doesnāt know it all, but it will do its best to provide good customer service anytime, day or night.ā
In the future, the city plans to expand Citybotās abilities to include more city business and potentially integrate the bot with online city services.
āEventually, weād love to see the Citybot not only provide accurate answers to usersā questions but also be able to do things on their behalf, like report an issue or register for a recreation program,ā said Boehm. āBut, if we are dreaming big, weād love to see Citybot become a voice-activated option with enhanced accessibility for tapping into city information and services.ā
To try out the bot, visit kelowna.ca and click on the chat icon on the bottom right side of the screen.
READ MORE: Ā鶹¾«Ń” Regional Transit to receive $7.3M in provincial, federal grant
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
@michaelrdrguez
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
