Johnson Idesoh, group chief information and technology officer, Absa Group. (Photograph by Lesley Moyo) Absa Group says its agentic artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot handles over 100 000 queries per month from approximately 1.6 million users. This, as the banking group continues to modernise its core platforms, positioning technology as a strategic lever for growth across…
The University of Johannesburg introduces African languages to its chatbot, MoUJi. The University of Johannesburg (UJ) has enhanced its AI-powered chatbot, MoUJi, with multilingual capabilities that allow prospective and current students to engage in isiZulu, Afrikaans, Sesotho or English. Originally launched in 2019 as a conventional chatbot, MoUJi has been upgraded with large language model technology,…
Google is rolling out a major feature expansion to “Ask Maps,” the conversational assistant embedded within Google Maps. The update introduces agentic capabilities that allow users to order food, book accommodations, and monitor public transit directly through natural language prompts, alongside deep personalization options driven by connected Google services. Read: SpaceX shares plunge after first…
Companies, including South African firms, are pouring money into customer service chatbots, but their customers are increasingly going elsewhere for help. New research from Gartner has found that customers are about three times more likely to turn to third-party generative AI tools than to a company’s own chatbot when trying to resolve a service issue….
Cambridge Dictionary named “parasocial” as Word of the Year for 2025. Francesco Carta Fotografo | Moment | Getty Images AI chatbots, Taylor Swift, and social media influencers all played a part in deciding Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year, 2025: “parasocial.” Parasocial — revealed by the global dictionary on Tuesday as its word of the…
US singer Taylor Swift. Daniel Cole/Reuters Meta Platforms has appropriated the names and likenesses of celebrities – including Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez – to create dozens of flirty social media chatbots without their permission, Reuters has found. While many were created by users with a Meta tool for building chatbots,…
Tennis fans at this year’s US Open can now watch the world’s top players battle it out in 3D cartoon form while chatting with an AI commentator that has been trained to bite its digital tongue when things get heated. The tournament has introduced technology that transforms real matches into animated replays featuring robot-like doppelgangers…
WA as your sales assistant. (Image: Cellfind) Sales teams face intense pressure to connect with prospects instantly. Every second counts in today’s competitive market, where a delayed response can mean losing a potential customer to a competitor who responds faster. But here’s a striking reality: 90% of consumers expect an immediate response, yet the average…
