Launched: Botkit + Wit.ai

Making bots smarter with new ways to integrate natural language processing

We just launched version 0.0.14 of Botkit on Github and NPM. In addition to some important improvements in the Slack connectivity (thanks to Mike Brevoort), this version of Botkit introduces the concept of developer middleware — a new way for developers to adapt and extend Botkit to use external services.

The first middleware we’ve released connects Botkit bots seamlessly to the natural language processing tools provided by Wit.ai.

Why is this exciting?

Wit.ai uses machine learning to recognize normal speech and translate it into something called an “intent.” An intent is a simple action or choice that a machine can understand. For example, Wit can understand that“I want to order tacos” and “Give me tacos” and “I need tacos right now” all mean “user_wants_tacos.”

Cool! This is an incredibly useful tool for someone who needs their bot to understand normal language in a chatroom.

Tying this functionality into Botkit using middleware is awesome because it extends the semantic tools already provided to build behaviors. Once enabled, bots can be programmed to “hear” intents and respond with only a few lines of code.

And since intents are defined in Wit, they can be continually tweaked, tuned and adapted to new user input. As users order more and more tacos, the taco bot will get smarter and smarter!

Build your own bot with Botkit

Learn more about the Botkit’s middleware and how you can build your own

Add botkit-middleware-witai to your bot!

Here is a “Hello World” bot you can use to get started with Botkit, Slack and Wit.ai

Join the Botkit Developer Community to discuss your project, get help, and meet fellow bot enthusiasts!

Add Howdy.ai to your Slack team and build a customized bot without code!