SMU School of Information Systems alumnus Abhilash Murthy has created an automated chatbot that tells users what bus they can take to get to their desired location and how long they will need to wait. The latest automated chatbot has come to life on a Facebook page called Bus Uncle. All a user needs to do is to send a message to the page to get real-time updates. The information is drawn from the Land Transport Authority. Typical replies include "Ah?", "Where are you? Which street lah, bus stop lah, or send me location also can", and "3 mins pack up your Sheng Siong bags". Mr Murthy explained that his goal was to reveal to commuters the "next frontier in technology: Bots". "Everybody knows what an app is, and what a website is, but very few know what bots are, and what they are capable of," he added.
The Sunday Times, pB6 (Oct 30)
The Sunday Times Online (Oct 30