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A smiling gold plastic robot, about a foot high, hangs around Kik Interactive Inc.’s Waterloo, Ont., headquarters like a mascot or garden gnome.

The robot is no mere decoration. It’s the physical manifestation of the mobile messenger’s bot strategy, which the company considers key to making money from its 300 million users in the long term.

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Bots, or chat bots, are software programs that could one day allow people to do everything from consulting a lawyer to ordering a hot dog by sending messages to automated accounts within the messenger apps they already use.

The use of bots may seem futuristic, but it’s already a daily reality in China. Users of the massively popular WeChat messenger — whose parent company Tencent has a US$50-million investment in Kik — can apply for a loan, book a doctor’s appointment or order dinner by chatting with bots.