Why are AI and NLP such hot fields these days?
Desperation, call it grasping at straws. Everyone seems to be feverish for “the next big thing”. Keep in mind, there is a tremendous amount of B.S. particularly in the artificial intelligence space these days (2017). Natural language processing may be another story, as the conversational (user) interface is touted as a more natural, more human interface between man and machine, and therefore the logical next step in technological evolution.
Certainly the Facebook Messenger 2016 April surprise, opening Messenger to automation and “chatbots”, served as a giant kick forward. However, it was also a self-serving move by Facebook, trying to kill off the entire mobile app space, and corner the messaging space. So-called Facebook “chatbots” are in reality very much compromised “chat apps”, full of buttons.