Development of a natural language chatbot interface for website users

Abstract

Today, there are a variety of technology solutions for creating chatbots, including universal platforms such as Google's Dialogflow, Microsoft's Azure Bot Service, and IBM's Watson Assistant, as well as chatbot builders such as ActiveChat, SendPulse, and BotPress. The disadvantage of the considered platforms and designers is the limitation of the free plan. This study considered the development and integration of an informative chatbot into the department's website in order to create a virtual assistant for potential applicants and applicants. The relevance of the study is due to the modern conditions of admission, limited opportunities to conduct career guidance events in connection with the consequences of the COVID 19 pandemic and the war on the territory of Ukraine. The object of research is a system of informing website users using natural language. A software product has been developed, which is an information system for applicants. The dynamic JavaScript programming language combined with the Node.js code execution environment and the Telegraf library was chosen to create the chatbot. The Heroku cloud platform with an integrated Heroku PostgreSQL database became the server for the operation of the chatbot. The system is implemented using the @BotFather Telegram service, which makes it possible to integrate it into any web resource. The stages of chatbot development are highlighted with examples of information, linguistic, and technical support. An analysis of the compliance of the developed chatbot with regard to the criteria of informativeness, multimodality, emotionality, productivity, and interactivity was carried out. The structure of the information content of the chatbot, which includes a set of modules, has been developed. A test version of the chatbot has been designed, tested, and integrated into the website of the Department of Applied Linguistics, which will continue to be tested and improved in 2023–2024. Practical significance: the structure of information content and the method of developing a chatbot could be used to develop authentic systems for informing applicants in institutions of higher education