Technology giants are investing billions of dollars to build or acquire message-based platforms to fuel their global business ambitions
October14, 20195 min read
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Conversations have changed the world since time immemorial. Conversations led to love, debates, arguments, knowledge, intelligence, wisdom and human enlightenment. Wars were fought when conversations ended. In Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari, writes, What was the Sapiens secret of success? How did we manage to settle so rapidly in so many distant and ecologically different habitats? How did we push all other human species into oblivion? Why couldnt even the strong, brainy, cold-proof Neanderthals survive our onslaught?
The debate continues to rage. The most likely answer is the very thing that makes the debate possible: Homo sapiens conquered the world thanks above all to its unique language. The deepest desire of human beings is to express and connect with the world. Conversations help them build that connect. And language is the foundation of great conversations.
The birth of the Internet came from the same desire to connect and converse. Scientists and university professors wanted to connect their ideas among peers. Thus was born email and private messaging, which later expanded to websites, videos and apps. Today, the Internet is a volcano of trillions of conversations bursting out through computers, smartphones and smart devices.
This is the reason why conversational chat and conversational commerce are now come back into the consciousness of Internet users. Large technology platforms such as Google, Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and LinkedIn believe that chat is going to transform the Internet. Products on Amazon, Alibaba and OLX are bought and sold using byte-sized reviews. No wonder, technology giants are investing billions of dollars to build or acquire message-based platforms to fuel their global business ambitions.
Business Insider projects that by 2020, 80% of the corporates across the globe will use chatbots at workplace. According to Drift, 27% of US teenagers have confirmed that they would shop and pay through conversational chatbots, and 13% are already shopping on chatbot interfaces.
While India is replicating the success of chat-driven platforms in social media and brick-and-mortar businesses, it is critical to evaluate conversational chatbots to make learning ubiquitous. India is estimated to have 855 million smartphones by 2022 with a majority of them on 5G network. Chatbots-based education can be easy to produce and simple to deliver without the need for complex education infrastructure. Chatbots cannot replace schools or colleges or teachers, but they can provide knowledge and skills in local languages to masses who are unable to afford education. It can provide a huge fillip to Indias education in terms of addressing challenges of quality as well as scale.
Here are five reasons why conversational chatbots can work for transforming Indian education:
The spirit of Indias culture is built around conversations. Most of our religious, spiritual and cultural traditions have seeped into our daily lives through thousands of years of conversational pipelines. Which is probably why, India is one of the largest customer base for WhatsApp. When Facebook Business conducted a survey, a staggering 74% of users confirmed that they would prefer messaging over all other technology channels to resolve their problems.
Learning is no different. Internet has shown us that businesses can be fundamentally transformed through byte-sized conversations. India also has a burgeoning population of first-generation learners who are getting into blue-collar jobs. Research reports say that over 200 million new job seekers are expected to enter the economy over the next 10 years. The app economy has organized the hitherto unorganized sector and provided millions of jobs to educated and less-educated youth. NSDC has a target to train over 200 million youth in job-related skills. The government is spending over INR 17,000 crore under the Skill India Mission. Over 6 million graduates are entering the formal economy to seek job opportunities. Classrooms are not enough and personal computers are unaffordable. Also most jobs are using smartphones as their primary touch point for business. In such a scenario, byte-sized learning opportunities need to be tried and tested.
The pace of growth in learners and job seekers needs fundamentally disruptive learning technologies. Learning platforms that have large format textual content and long videos, are finding it difficult to engage users who have limited attention span. Websites are out and apps are in. And even apps are swiped off or uninstalled when complicated content is ported on them. This is the reality of the Internet generation. Because chat is ideally suited for small screen devices such as smartphones that are exponentially growing and outnumbering personal computers in markets beyond cities. What e-learning can't, chat can. And all this at 10% of the cost.
Chatbots are quick, easy and cheap to produce. By making conversations as the focus of learning, it takes away the stress from understanding difficult concepts in education. A 10-minute chat-based lesson that moves in with a single learning outcome and moves out once it is delivered is far more appealing to users than a complex lesson plan that tries to fit it multiple objectives in multi-modal formats inside the same screen. Moreover, chat is the only low-cost platform that can integrate and offer just-in-time human expertise to learners, without the need for expensive learning infrastructure. A smartphone can be attached to a projection system in school, to teach and learn the same content that is available at home.
So, it is important for the education community to explore the opportunities that chat offers for improving access and outcomes to learning. Not just students, even teachers and parents can benefit by aggregating themselves on from low-cost messaging-based learning platforms. By creating a learning collective of stakeholders on one platform, chats can fundamentally change the way education is imparted and delivered in the future.
Visit link:
- The Lives of Others - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Aliens and Spiritual Enlightenment - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Dreams - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Open Your Eyes - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Spiritual Enlightenment and Grizzly Bears - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- I’m Alive! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Seeing the World - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- First Taste of Spiritual Enlightenment - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Pause - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Welcome - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Resurrection Needed for the Catholic Church, not Jesus. Christianity, Islam ... - American Chronicle - April 5th, 2010 [April 5th, 2010]
- The Secret of Kells - Harvard Crimson - April 6th, 2010 [April 6th, 2010]
- Taylor: The true Easter within - Lake County News - April 6th, 2010 [April 6th, 2010]
- CHOICES! Your Go To Source for Enlightenment! / Spiritual Movie Morning - WCNC (subscription) - April 6th, 2010 [April 6th, 2010]
- Sex Swami duped firangs in the US - NDTV.com - April 6th, 2010 [April 6th, 2010]
- Girls' school defies Taliban terror - Times Online - April 6th, 2010 [April 6th, 2010]
- Shen Yun Performers Present Spiritual Connotation with Life - The Epoch Times - April 6th, 2010 [April 6th, 2010]
- Yoga Draws Criticism - TopNews United States - April 6th, 2010 [April 6th, 2010]
- Banjamin Bratt: 'I Wanted to Be Anything But an Actor' - Palm Beach Post - April 6th, 2010 [April 6th, 2010]
- The History of Buddhism - MPBN News - April 6th, 2010 [April 6th, 2010]
- Secrets of the Catholic Church - The National Law Journal - April 9th, 2010 [April 9th, 2010]
- U-Theatre of Taiwan dance troupe's West Coast debut spotlights its virtuosity - OregonLive.com - April 9th, 2010 [April 9th, 2010]
- Religion Calendar - Montreal Gazette - April 10th, 2010 [April 10th, 2010]
- Siquijor conducts recollection for parolees - Philippine Information Agency - April 10th, 2010 [April 10th, 2010]
- Prayer for guidance - Inquirer.net - April 10th, 2010 [April 10th, 2010]
- East Bay Buddhist temple strives to maintain relevance in new land - San Jose Mercury News - April 10th, 2010 [April 10th, 2010]
- Spiritual Journey: Stay-home mom Melody Melvin - The Huntsville Times - al.com (blog) - April 10th, 2010 [April 10th, 2010]
- What Does The Buddha Have To Do With Jesus? - Huffington Post (blog) - April 10th, 2010 [April 10th, 2010]
- Laura Dern and William H. Macy Heading to Cable - Inside TV (blog) - April 10th, 2010 [April 10th, 2010]
- American Guru Steven S. Sadleir brings Shaktipat to Spain and Italy - PR Web (press release) - April 11th, 2010 [April 11th, 2010]
- Who and What Is Buddha, Really? - Huffington Post (blog) - April 12th, 2010 [April 12th, 2010]
- The ACLU works to sap our spiritual strength - The Free Lance-Star - April 13th, 2010 [April 13th, 2010]
- Christ Enlightened, The Lost Teachings of Jesus Unveiled by Best-Selling ... - PR Web (press release) - April 13th, 2010 [April 13th, 2010]
- All About Kundalini Yoga - EmpowHer (blog) - April 14th, 2010 [April 14th, 2010]
- Catholic leadership's image tarnished by recurring scandal - Staunton News Leader - April 16th, 2010 [April 16th, 2010]
- Iowa Swami Who Beguiled the Jazz Age - New York Times - April 16th, 2010 [April 16th, 2010]
- More than a spiritual exercise - Nagaland Post - April 18th, 2010 [April 18th, 2010]
- Despite media smears, world and faithful have warmed to Benedict - Irish Times - April 18th, 2010 [April 18th, 2010]
- The Fool's Story in the Major Arcana - I-Newswire.com (press release) - April 19th, 2010 [April 19th, 2010]
- Pakistan's pre-Islamic art goes on show in Paris - DAWN.com - April 20th, 2010 [April 20th, 2010]
- New author shares emotional enlightenment - The Trinidad Guardian - April 20th, 2010 [April 20th, 2010]
- The theft of yoga - Washington Post (blog) - April 20th, 2010 [April 20th, 2010]
- Enter the Realm of the Buddha - Georgetown University The Hoya - April 22nd, 2010 [April 22nd, 2010]
- Indian guru arrested over sex scandal: Police - Montreal Gazette - April 22nd, 2010 [April 22nd, 2010]
- Life Out Here: Tea Party with a twist - Imperial Valley Press (subscription) - April 22nd, 2010 [April 22nd, 2010]
- April 25: A Turning Point for Today's China - The Epoch Times - April 22nd, 2010 [April 22nd, 2010]
- Nityananda bound devotees with non-disclosure agreements - Sify - April 24th, 2010 [April 24th, 2010]
- Buddhist Extremists in Bangladesh Beat, Take Christians Captive - Pakistan Christian TV - April 24th, 2010 [April 24th, 2010]
- Liberty and the Death of God - American Thinker - April 24th, 2010 [April 24th, 2010]
- A Commentary on Religious Intolerance & the Dalai Lama - Subversify (blog) - April 24th, 2010 [April 24th, 2010]
- The Fool's Story in the Major Arcana - BigNews.biz (press release) - April 24th, 2010 [April 24th, 2010]
- Review: Seeking Life's Meaning - New York Times (blog) - April 24th, 2010 [April 24th, 2010]
- An Analysis Of I Corinthians 15 - Blogger News Network (blog) - April 24th, 2010 [April 24th, 2010]
- Luxury in spiritual Ladakh, India - Times Online - April 24th, 2010 [April 24th, 2010]
- JD Salinger: A 'Selfish Old Goat,' But Not a Perv - Politics Daily (blog) - April 24th, 2010 [April 24th, 2010]
- Sorry, your patent on yoga has run out - Washington Post (blog) - April 25th, 2010 [April 25th, 2010]
- Leggo my ego - Winnipeg Free Press - April 25th, 2010 [April 25th, 2010]
- Church Set to Regain Museum Treasures - The Moscow Times - April 28th, 2010 [April 28th, 2010]
- The multiple sides of Ricky Williams - San Diego Union Tribune - April 28th, 2010 [April 28th, 2010]
- The Dalai Lama, Buddhism, and Tibet: Reflecting on a Half-Century of Change - Student Pulse - April 28th, 2010 [April 28th, 2010]
- The Kumbh Mela: what can it teach us about mental health, consciousness and ... - Psychology Today (blog) - April 28th, 2010 [April 28th, 2010]
- THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS (DVD) - Film Threat - April 28th, 2010 [April 28th, 2010]
- A Leg Up on “THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE” - FANGORIA (blog) - April 28th, 2010 [April 28th, 2010]
- The hottest docs at Hot Docs - Globe and Mail - April 29th, 2010 [April 29th, 2010]
- Florida Dems shut down state House - Politico - April 29th, 2010 [April 29th, 2010]
- Reading Energy Fields with Tanis Day - The Barrie Examiner - April 30th, 2010 [April 30th, 2010]
- Book flights to India for a luxury mountain retreat - Southall Travel - April 30th, 2010 [April 30th, 2010]
- In death, mass murderer sees freedom - Citizens Voice - April 30th, 2010 [April 30th, 2010]
- Author Becky Walsh on enlightenment through sex - Dscriber - April 30th, 2010 [April 30th, 2010]
- Is Western Christianity Suffering From Spiritual Amnesia? - Huffington Post (blog) - April 30th, 2010 [April 30th, 2010]
- The Road That Leads to Nowhere - The Road That Leads to You - New York News Today - May 2nd, 2010 [May 2nd, 2010]
- In Their Words: Her path to inner peace - Times Herald-Record - May 2nd, 2010 [May 2nd, 2010]
- Rielle, Oprah, and Zen America's Truth-Off - Politics Daily (blog) - May 3rd, 2010 [May 3rd, 2010]
- CathBlog - Newman's reasoned faith outshines postmodernism's dark stars - CathNews - May 13th, 2010 [May 13th, 2010]
- Light of the Sufis exhibit explores Islam's mystical side - Houston Chronicle - May 13th, 2010 [May 13th, 2010]
- The last word: In search of enlightenment, mindfulness and nirvana in Silicon ... - Financial Times - May 14th, 2010 [May 14th, 2010]
- 'Light in the Wilderness,' by M. Catherine Thomas - Mormon Times - May 14th, 2010 [May 14th, 2010]
- Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive-Fascist Distinction - U.S. News & World Report (blog) - May 14th, 2010 [May 14th, 2010]
- Are You Praying to the Only True God? - WEBCommentary - May 14th, 2010 [May 14th, 2010]
- Haunting 'Lourdes' Revels in the Poetry of Ambiguity - HollywoodChicago.com - May 14th, 2010 [May 14th, 2010]