Oracle announces new chatbot development platform

Jumping onto the latest fad of bot bandwagon, Oracle has announced a new platform that will help build and run chatbots.  The announcement was made by chief technology officer Larry Ellison at the Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco. Though Oracle positions its platform as an interface for enterprise apps, the chatbots will also work with apps like Facebook Messenger, Slack and so on, according to VentureBeat. This news follows the latest push given by Facebook and Microsoft to what can be called an approach towards the chatbots era. The report adds that the new Oracle tool will not require users to write in Java, PHP so on, but rather the process is mere drag and drop on a graphical interface. In a demo, Oracle showed a Messenger chatbot built using the platform running on an iPhone. “He exchanged text-based messages with the bot, which went by the name Oracle Mobile Procurement, to place an order for a new set of business cards,” adds the report. However, there is no word on when the new service will be launched for users, and the price. Meanwhile, companies are gearing up to ensure they aren’t late to the bots party. Satya Nadella recently said that Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered bots will become the next interface, shaping our interactions with the applications and devices we rely on. Here’s what other companies are up to when it comes to chatbots.