Chatbot with ‘human-like feel’ wins major govt project

KeyReply, a technology start-up founded by three SMU graduates in 2014, became one of the youngest companies to bid for and successfully clinch a major government project over six rivals. The project required companies to build a chatbot – a kind of Web robot – to serve various government agencies in Singapore through one central platform; the gov.sg Facebook page. KeyReply’s winning formula was an online robot with a human touch that would be able to understand what a user is asking over 90 per cent of the time. SMU graduate and one of KeyReply’s co-founders Carylyne Chan said the chat bot is programmed to have some personality, and can adapt to the style and brand of the company that employs it.