A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Make an AI Chatbot from Scratch

Chatbots and AI chatbots are becoming increasingly popular for businesses online. Making a chatbot can teach you how to respond to customer requests and provide proactive customer support services to your audience. A fully personalized, automated chatbot will not only improve user experiences but will also make your website more interactive, engaging, and credible.

A common misconception is that chatbots are difficult to create. In reality, you can create a functional chatbot from scratch with the correct knowledge and the right tools! Read on to find out what chatbots are and how to make an AI chatbot step by step. In this guide, you will also learn how to make a chat bot for Discord.

On This Page

• What Is a Chatbot & AI Chat Bot?
• How To Make an AI Chatbot: 8 Steps
• 3 Popular Free AI Chatbot Makers for Beginners
• Bonus: Get A Custom Avatar to Improve Your AI Chatbot UI
• FAQ: Can I Make a Chat Bot for Discord?

What Is a Chatbot & AI Chat Bot?

A chatbot is a software application or computer program that can process human conversation and stimulate conversation with human end users. This can be in the form of text or voice interactions.

AI conversational chatbots are much more complex than traditional chatbots. Where chatbots would provide users with predefined answers, AI chatbots are intelligent, capable of learning, and can provide fully tailored answers on their own.

Also read: 14 Telegram AI Bots & Tools for Chat and Business >>

You will spot both forms of chatbots in your daily life on web interfaces, mobile apps, internal help desks, social media pages, and IoT devices. All work to improve the user experience and provide personalized assistance. Before we can discuss how to make a chatbot, let's look at the common types of chatbots.

5 Common Types of Chat Bot

Here are some of the most common types of chatbots you will find:

1. Rule-Based Chatbots

Rule-based chatbots use conditional (if/then) logic in processing information coming in. The chatbot is designed with a predefined combination of question-and-answer options. It will, therefore, respond according to the user input. While they are easy to build, maintain, and operate, they can only rely on pre-programmed rules and patterns to understand and respond to user input.

2. AI-Driven Chatbots

AI-driven chatbots use machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to interpret user input and, in turn, provide personalized interactions. They employ predictive intelligence and analytics to study user behavior and provide responses accordingly. Rule-based chatbots would only work on pre-defined rules and lack these self-learning capabilities.

3. Hybrid Chatbots

Combining AI-based video chatbots and live chat, the hybrid chatbot will initiate the chat as an AI chatbot, hoping to clear the customer query. If the chatbot isn't providing customers with satisfactory answers, the customer support agent can step in anytime.

4. Social Media Chatbots

As the name implies, social media chatbots are used across social media sites, including Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. These chatbots use AI to provide automated customer support to customers who connect with you on social media.

5. Voice-Activated Chatbots

Voice chatbots use speech recognition technology in combination with NLP to understand and respond to verbal language. Voice chatbots offer convenience to users who want to get quick responses without having to type their requests.

How To Make an AI Chatbot: 8 Steps

Now, the real question is, how to make a chatbot on your own? Here are eight simple steps to follow!

Step 1. Clarify Chatbot Objectives and Target Audience

Start by identifying what you want your chatbot to do. Will it be used for customer support automation? Will it be used to automate personal tasks? Will it be used to enhance customer experience?

Step 2. Select Suitable Development Tools and AI Platforms

There are several development tools and AI for social media available today that can assist you in crafting a chatbot from scratch. You should first assess which one best suits your needs. Popular examples include Zapier, Freshchat and BotPenguin.

Step 3. Gather Quality Data for Effective Chatbot Training

The backbone of your chatbot relies on NLP and ML. To make sure the chatbot interprets the user correctly, you must train them. The chatbot will use machine learning to study and analyze the data to provide relevant contextual responses to users. This data can be extracted from your own database, including transcripts of previous customer interactions, customer support logs, social media messages, or through open-source mediums.

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Step 4. Choose Coding or No-Code Solutions for Chatbot Creation

You can create your chatbot through chatbot frameworks or libraries where software developers can build chatbots through coding. You can alternatively use non-coding chatbot builder platforms to create a chatbot without typing a single line of code!

Step 5. Follow A Systematic Approach for Building The Chatbot

Chatbot design demands structure and order. Without it, your chatbot algorithm won’t be refined and will never function well. Follow a systematic approach instead, mapping a structure that will allow the chatbot to decipher input and generate appropriate responses.

Step 6. Ensure Rigorous Testing for Functionality and User Experience

How do you build a chatbot that is good at customer interaction? Consistent testing! Testing is a large part of chatbot development, ensuring your design functions well and elevates the user experience. Testing will ensure that your chatbot responses are up-to-date and accurate, especially if deployed in real time.

Step 7. Choose Deployment Options and Integrate with Existing Systems

Once complete, you can now push your chatbot for deployment onto the target platform. You can choose to deploy the chatbot onto your server, the cloud or the chatbot development platform. There you have it; this is how to build an AI chat bot.

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Step 8. Regularly Update and Improve for Optimal Chatbot Performance

Chatbot development does not conclude with deployment. You must optimize and update your chatbot periodically to ensure consistent, satisfactory performance.

3 Popular Free AI Chatbot Makers for Beginners

We have covered how to build an AI chat bot above, but you might find it challenging to choose the right chatbot development platform. Here are three popular and ready-to-use chatbot makers that are ideal for beginners. Enlisted makers are further powered by ChatGPT, a resource you might be familiar with!

1. Zapier

Zapier’s AI chatbot maker offers free, ready-to-use templates that will allow you to create and launch your personalized chatbot. The builder incorporates the power of OpenAI. Zapier offers basic chat-building functionality for free, if you want advanced customization and configurations, you can opt for their premium services.

2. Freshchat

Freshcat is a no-code AI chatbot maker that allows you to develop a chatbot from scratch, ready for deployment on your website, apps and social media. So how to build a chatbot using Freshcat? Freshcat offers a simple visual interface where you can use drag-and-drop tools to create the chatbot. The service also allows you to build multilingual chatbots with multiple pricing models, ranging from Free to Pro accounts.

3. BotPenguin

BotPenguin allows you to create chatbots for your website, Whatsapp, Facebook and Telegram. The chatbot is free to create and can be used for lead generation, appointment booking, customer support, marketing automation, and live chat services. The free chat will be free of cost and allow for 2000 messages per month.

Bonus: Get A Custom Avatar to Improve Your AI Chatbot UI

Now you know how to make a chatbot online, but is there any way you can elevate it? A fantastic addition you can make to elevate the customer experience is to add a customized AI avatar. A real-person avatar can add a necessary human touch, fostering a sense of connection, trust, and personalized engagement. We recommend Vidnoz AI custom avatar services.

Vidnoz AI offers over 250 AI avatars you can choose from, with 470 realistic AI voices that can be fully personalized according to your brand. You can also create your AI avatar using a portrait video.

As for pricing, the AI avatar services are available in monthly and yearly plans ranging from free to $74.99/month. You can also get customized enterprise plans. For this and more details, you should reach out to their customer support services.

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FAQ: Can I Make a Chat Bot for Discord?

Yes! You can create a chatbot for Discord. But how to make a chat bot for Discord is a problem. Having relative coding experience will help you in the design and deployment. Several developer websites offer pre-programmed Discord bots for deployment. All you have to do is invite them to your Discord server. You can select a server, such as the Discord API server. Grant the bot the necessary permissions, and once deployed, they will appear as a user in your channel. You can also chat with 8 character AI discord by AI apps and AI servers in Discord.

Conclusion

So, now you know how to make a chatbot from scratch. An AI chatbot can help elevate the user experience, especially when you have limited human resources that cannot monitor your customer queries around the clock. AI chatbots help automate necessary tasks and can streamline your business projects. With the step-by-step guide outlined above, you now know how to make a chatbot. The best part is that most AI chatbots can be easily crafted from scratch in just a few minutes. To enhance your chatbot further, be sure to incorporate an AI-custom avatar, as shown in Vidnoz AI!