Building AI Powered Chatbots Without Programming

In this module, you'll learn what chatbots are and their transformative role in customer service. You'll learn how chatbots, which simulate human conversation, can enhance operational efficiency by automating routine tasks. Additionally, you'll explore the concept of action workflows and how they enable chatbots to perform complex tasks by breaking them into manageable steps. You'll begin to create a chatbot for a business by developing features such as retrieving store locations, displaying operating hours, and offering flower recommendations. You'll also learn how action workflows improve customer experience. Additionally, this module guides you through activating your trial, creating an IBM Cloud account, and setting up an IBM watsonx Assistant instance.

In this module, you'll explore the key differences, features, and use cases of decision tree and generative AI chatbots, focusing on their balance of control and flexibility in various applications. You'll gain insights into the concept of actions in IBM watsonx Assistant, understanding how predefined tasks enable chatbots to respond effectively to user interactions. Using the flower shop scenario, you'll also learn to create default actions, such as greeting customers and fallback, and custom actions tailored to specific needs. Additionally, you'll gain the skills to design chatbots that seamlessly guide users through interactions while maintaining control and adaptability.

In this module, you'll explore the role of action and session variables in chatbot interactions. You'll learn how temporary data, known as action variables, is used for specific tasks and discarded after completion, whereas persistent data, managed through session variables, retains context across user interactions. Additionally, you'll examine how action variables facilitate task management. You'll also explore the impact of session variables on enhancing user experiences in the real-world business scenario of an online flower shop.

In this module, you'll explore advanced techniques to enhance chatbot functionality using IBM watsonx Assistant. You'll learn how to create a recommendation system within a chatbot. Additionally, you'll gain insights into building complex actions, implementing session variables to manage conversational states, and utilizing expressions and dictionaries to generate dynamic responses. Further, you'll learn to configure follow-up questions to gather user information and design and test intricate workflows to improve user interactions. By the end of this module, you'll gain the skills to create intelligent and engaging chatbot experiences.

In this module, you'll delve into the essentials of deploying chatbots in various environments with IBM watsonx Assistant. You'll learn how to navigate environments seamlessly and generate and utilize embed codes for deploying chatbots across platforms such as websites, phones, SMS, and messenger. You'll also explore extensions to enhance your chatbot's functionality and integrate it into a WordPress site using the IBM watsonx Assistant WordPress plugin. Additionally, you'll gain insights to customize your chatbot's interface and test its performance in a live environment. You'll also gain hands-on expertise deploying chatbots.

In this module, you will apply the knowledge gained throughout the course to a final exam focused on various aspects of building chatbots without programming. The module also reviews key terms and concepts, highlights key takeaways, and outlines the next steps.