Bots, explained: What is a bot, who’s making them, and why | Re/code

bots — or “chatbots” — are an increasingly trendy model for software.

This new obsession came on fast. But why? Where did these bots come from? Who is building them? What for? Is a fake conversation better than just clicking buttons? You’ll be hearing a lot more about bots soon, so here’s an overview....
bots won’t kill apps anytime soon. It’s more likely they could replace parts of some apps, especially where there’s some sort of complex transaction involved or customer service. The downside of bots is that they’re often one-dimensional.