J.A.R.V.I.S. is a an example of what can be hoped for when combining chatbot technology with artificial intelligence and knowledge databases.

Imagine a not-so-distant future where engineers and managers can access information gathered from the shop floor just by talking to their computers.

This concept isn’t fantastically futuristic—computers can communicate through speech software today— but imagine if they could communicate intelligently and authentically, while independently pulling together information by request in a digestible format. Think J.A.R.V.I.S. from the Iron Man movies.

Maana, a knowledge technology provider has recently partnered with exClone, a chatbot developer, to advance chatbots to a conceptually similar level.

The two companies are aiming to combine exClone’s chatbot expertise with the Maana Knowledge Platform. The Platform is designed to assist in optimization field services, predictive maintenance and corporate processes, with applications including semantic searching, developing and interpreting knowledge graphs and part order optimization.

“Chatbots have become one of the pillars of artificial intelligence (AI) and have entered the enterprise world to make internal and external communication more accurate, consistent, scalable and cost-effective than that of their human counterparts,” said Riza Berkan, CEO and founder, exClone.

“We are excited to be a part of this historic transformation where software platforms, like the Maana Knowledge Platform, are improving decision flows across the enterprise. Maana’s platform combined with exClone’s chatbot interface can further cultivate human-machine dialog during decision making.”

Currently, the most advanced chatbots have demonstrated short-term conversational memory to respond and keep up with questions from humans. The companies are hoping that integrating exClone’s chatbot interface with the Maana Knowledge Platform will allow users to extract large amounts of vital information, which may require greater conversational memory.

Donald Thompson, founder and president of Maana, believes the knowledge platform needs to offer users a casual, natural and untrained approach and experience.

“Humanizing the problem-solving process by making it easier for subject-matter experts to understand the interdependencies that stitch the enterprise together is of the utmost importance when optimizing assets and decision flows,” said Thompson.

“The combination of Enterprise Knowledge Technology, which brings knowledge and reasoning into the hands of subject-matter experts; and exClone’s intelligent chatbots, which enable experts to interact with digital knowledge using familiar dialogue patterns, will make digital transformation a widespread reality.”

To learn more about the Maana Knowledge Platform and the capabilities of chatbots, visit the Maana and exClone websites.