Her name is Mildred, and she describes herself as a " travel agent" and sports a strange look described by Lufthansa as " a charming lady wearing glasses, with her pink hair in a bun ". This is the face of new chatbot launched by the German group, which aims to make it easier to find the best airfares on the various Lufthansa airlines.
Once the conversation has started in English or German on Facebook's Messenger application, the " quiet force Mildred" - from the English etymology of the first name Mildred - effectively combines calm and power. A simple question incorporating the basic search parameters is all this avatar needs to make flight proposals almost instantaneously.
" To avoid consumers feeling like they're filling in a form, it uses a written dialogue with them. "explains the press release published on Wednesday. " Messenger from Facebook, which keeps track of departure airports chosen for 24 hours, is able to respond to other requests, making it a perfectly suited application for Mildred "he adds.
Mildred can see far ahead next nine months The Book Now option is then proposed to the traveller, who will be redirected to the Lufthansa website booking page with a simple click. The Book Now option is then proposed to the traveller, who is then redirected to the booking page on the Lufthansa website with a simple click.
give it a chance to improve further
Technophiles will note that Mildred is based on the automatic natural language processing (ANLP) platform named Wit.aiwhich transcribes the questions asked into an intelligible code for the robot. The chatbot relies in particular on Google's geolocation, enabling it to make rapid deductions. For example, by mentioning Corcovado in the chat, Mildred searches for flights from Paris to Rio de Janeiro. She'll be back in a second with some price suggestions.
Of course, not everything is perfect in this beta version, and some discussions are a little slow. But the machine should quickly become more efficient. " Mildred's capacity for analysis is already significant, but it's important for us to launch a new product. a beta version to give it a chance to improve even further "warns Dr. Torsten Wingenter, Director of Digital Innovations. " In the digital age, the speed and mindset of start-ups play an important role, enabling us to quickly test a new version and incorporate feedback from users. "he adds.
