Conversational AI: An Overview of Methodologies, Applications & Future Scope

Conversational AI is a sub-domain of Artificial Intelligence that deals with speech-based or text-based AI agents that have the capability to simulate and automate conversations and verbal interactions. Conversational AI Agents like chatbots and voice assistants have proliferated due to two main developments. On one hand the methods required to develop highly accurate AI models i.e. Machine Learning, Deep Learning have seen a tremendous amount of advancement due to the increasing research interest in these fields accompanied by the progress in achieving higher computing power with the help of complex hardware architectures like GPUs and TPUs. Secondly, due to the Natural Language interface and the nature of their design, conversational agents have been seen as a natural fit in a wide array of applications like healthcare, customer care, ecommerce and education. This rise in the practical implementation and their demand has in turn made Conversational AI a ripe area for innovation and novel research. Newer and more complex models for the individual core components of a Conversational AI architecture are being introduced at a never before seen rate. This study is intended to shed light on such latest research in Conversational AI architecture development and also to highlight the improvements that these novel innovations have achieved over their traditional counterparts. This paper also provides a comprehensive account of some of the research opportunities in the Conversational AI domain and thus setting up the stage for future research and innovation in this field.