Unimodal chatbots are a type of artificial intelligence (AI) system
that are designed and built to work with one type of data
exclusively. They use algorithms tailored for that modality. For
example, a unimodal AI system like ChatGPT uses natural
language processing (NLP) algorithms to understand and extract
meaning from text content, and the only type of output the chatbot
can produce is text.
While most chatbots are unimodal, there are some that can render
multimodal outputs in the form of text, audio, and video. However,
unimodal chatbots can serve the required purposes as well and
are comparably cost-effective.
These chatbots are often used in messaging apps and are
automated programs that interact with customers like a human
would. They can operate in one of two ways -either via machine
learning or with set guidelines. However, due to advancements in AI technology, chatbots using set guidelines are becoming a historical footnote.