Question:

Sorry! That’s on me, I can’t give a response to that right now. What else can I help you with?

Answer:

How to Deal with Unanswered Questions in a Chatbot

Chatbots are becoming more popular and sophisticated as a way of providing customer service, information, and entertainment. However, chatbots are not perfect and sometimes they may not be able to answer a user’s question. This can be frustrating for both the user and the chatbot developer. How can you handle this situation gracefully and effectively?

In this article, we will share some tips and best practices for dealing with unanswered questions in a chatbot. We will cover the following aspects:

• Why chatbots may not be able to answer some questions
• How to design your chatbot to anticipate and prevent unanswered questions
• How to respond to unanswered questions in a polite and helpful way
• How to learn from unanswered questions and improve your chatbot over time

There are many reasons why a chatbot may not be able to answer a user’s question. Some of the common ones are:

• The question is out of the chatbot’s scope or domain. For example, if your chatbot is designed to help users book a flight, it may not be able to answer questions about the weather or the local attractions.
• The question is too vague, complex, or ambiguous. For example, if a user asks “What is the best option for me?”, the chatbot may not have enough information or context to provide a meaningful answer.
• The question is too specific or uncommon. For example, if a user asks “How many seats are there in row 12 of flight 123?”, the chatbot may not have access to that level of detail or may not encounter such a question frequently enough to have a prepared answer.
• The question is related to a technical issue or a bug in the chatbot. For example, if a user asks “Why is the chatbot not working?”, the chatbot may not be able to diagnose or fix the problem itself.

How to Design Your Chatbot to Anticipate and Prevent Unanswered Questions

The best way to deal with unanswered questions is to avoid them in the first place. This means designing your chatbot to be clear, consistent, and comprehensive in its capabilities and limitations. Here are some tips to achieve this:

• Define your chatbot’s purpose, audience, and scope. What is the main goal of your chatbot? Who are you trying to serve? What are the most common and important questions that your chatbot should be able to answer? What are the questions that your chatbot should not or cannot answer?
• Provide a welcome message and a menu of options. When a user starts a conversation with your chatbot, greet them and introduce your chatbot’s name, function, and features. Provide a menu of options or categories that the user can choose from to guide them to the right topic or task. For example, “Hi, I’m Copilot, an AI companion. I can help you with information, questions, and conversation. What would you like to talk about today? You can choose from: 1) Information 2) Questions 3) Conversation 4) Settings”
• Use natural language understanding and processing. Use techniques such as intent recognition, entity extraction, sentiment analysis, and dialogue management to understand the user’s input and generate appropriate responses. For example, if a user asks “How do I change my password?”, the chatbot should be able to recognize the intent (change password), extract the entity (password), and manage the dialogue (ask for the current and new password, confirm the change, and provide feedback).
• Provide feedback and confirmation. When the chatbot receives a user’s input, it should acknowledge it and confirm that it understood it correctly. For example, “OK, you want to change your password. What is your current password?” If the chatbot is not sure about the user’s input, it should ask for clarification or confirmation. For example, “Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Could you please repeat that?” or “Did you mean to ask about the weather in New Orleans?”
• Handle errors and exceptions. When the chatbot encounters an error or an exception, it should handle it gracefully and inform the user about it. For example, “Oops, something went wrong. Please try again later.” or “Sorry, I don’t have access to that information. Please contact our customer support for assistance.”

How to Respond to Unanswered Questions in a Polite and Helpful Way

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, your chatbot may still face a question that it cannot answer. In this case, you should respond in a polite and helpful way that maintains the user’s trust and satisfaction. Here are some tips to achieve this:

• Apologize and empathize. When the chatbot cannot answer a question, it should apologize and empathize with the user’s frustration or disappointment. For example, “Sorry, that’s on me, I can’t give a response to that right now.” or “I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that question. I understand how you feel.”
• Explain why the chatbot cannot answer the question. If possible, the chatbot should explain why it cannot answer the question and what are the limitations or constraints that prevent it from doing so. For example, “That question is out of my scope. I can only help you with information, questions, and conversation.” or “That question is too specific for me. I can only provide general information about flights and bookings.”
• Provide alternative solutions or resources. If possible, the chatbot should provide alternative solutions or resources that the user can use to find the answer or complete the task. For example, “You can try searching the web for more information on that topic.” or “You can contact our customer support team at 1-800-123-4567 or email [email protected] for more assistance.”
• Ask for feedback and suggestions. The chatbot should ask for feedback and suggestions from the user on how to improve its performance and service. For example, “How was your experience with me today? Please rate me on a scale of 1 to 5 stars.” or “What can I do better to help you in the future? Please share your thoughts and ideas with me.”

How to Learn from Unanswered Questions and Improve Your Chatbot Over Time

Unanswered questions are not only a challenge but also an opportunity to learn from your users and improve your chatbot over time. Here are some tips to achieve this:

• Collect and analyze data. You should collect and analyze data on the unanswered questions that your chatbot receives, such as the frequency, the topic, the type, and the sentiment of the questions. You should also collect and analyze data on the user’s feedback and satisfaction with the chatbot’s responses. This will help you identify the gaps, issues, and trends in your chatbot’s performance and service.
• Update and expand your chatbot’s knowledge base and capabilities. Based on the data analysis, you should update and expand your chatbot’s knowledge base and capabilities to cover more topics, questions, and tasks that your users are interested in or need help with. You should also update and expand your chatbot’s natural language understanding and processing techniques to handle more complex, specific, and ambiguous questions.
• Test and evaluate your chatbot’s improvements. You should test and evaluate your chatbot’s improvements by conducting user testing, A/B testing, or other methods to measure the impact and effectiveness of the changes. You should also monitor and track the chatbot’s performance and service metrics, such as accuracy, speed, retention, and satisfaction.

Conclusion

Unanswered

questions are inevitable in any chatbot, but they can be handled gracefully and effectively by following some tips and best practices. By designing your chatbot to anticipate and prevent unanswered questions, responding to them in a polite and helpful way, and learning from them and improving your chatbot over time, you can create a chatbot that delivers a great user experience and value.