The power of bots : the benefits and pitfalls of automation in corporate communications

Automation is gradually changing in the way communications departments work. The new issue of Communication Insights "The power of bots" summarizes the results of the research project by the University of Duisburg-Essen. The study focusses on two aspects: Chatbots: How can communications departments benefit from automation? How can chatbots be set up or improved? (technical infrastructure, programming etc.) Which hurdles must be overcome? (data availability, application errors etc.) Social Bots: To what extent do social bots seek to influence corporate communications in social media? To gain insights, millions of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube postings refering to Germany's top 30 companies were analyzed for bot activities for the first time. How can communications departments deal with this threat? What are legal framework conditions?