Bot! zine - Issue #87

Hello everyone! Apologies for missing last week, I was a little under the weather and catching up fro
Bot! zine - Issue #87
By Bot! zine • Issue #87
Hello everyone! Apologies for missing last week, I was a little under the weather and catching up from a week of remote working. 
My favorite story this week is from Wired, below. Everyone was in a bit of a panic over the Facebook bots that “created their own language.” There’s a huge difference between artificial intelligence figuring out how to be more efficient and Skynet. 
@veronica

Required Reading
No, Facebook’s Chatbots Will Not Take Over the World
Bots programmed to swap balls, hats, and books fell into a hype vortex.
8 ways we can prepare for bots stealing our jobs
8 ways we can prepare for bots stealing our jobs
Even the most conservative estimates project automation to take 6 percent of all U.S. jobs by 2021. Here are some steps we can take to prepare the United States for automation right now.
venturebeat.com  •  Share
Alexa Meets Slack
Alexa Meets Slack
Surely by now you have tried a few Slack bots. Those nifty little add ons simplify workflows, alert you on critical incidents, manage your presence and basically make Slack, Slack++. 
chatbotsmagazine.com  •  Share
20 bots that can help you build your startup
20 bots that can help you build your startup
Tens of thousands of bots have been built to do things like promote movies and sell chicken wings, but there’s also an entire league of bots created to help businesses grow and streamline tasks. Chances are pretty good you will need more than just bots to get your business off the ground, but the bots below were selected because they can quickly do many of the things startups need most — like craft a pitch, incorporate a Delaware C-Corporation, and scale.
venturebeat.com  •  Share
How to Build a Slack Bot
PCMag spoke to Amir Shevat, Head of Developer Relations at Slack, and John Agan, Senior Developer Relations Manager at Slack, about how to build a Slack bot from scratch. The process requires some considerable developer know-how in spots, but Shevat and Agan walked us through two simple bot creation scenarios to which all businesses can relate: building a basic helpdesk bot and enabling in-channel notifications. Read on for step-by-step instructions on how to build your very own Slack bot.
Why the typical voicebot user is a 52-year-old woman
Why the typical voicebot user is a 52-year-old woman
There’s a race heating up in the world of artificial intelligence, and it involves smartphones, consumers, and voice. Voice-activated smartphone apps use a combination of artificial intelligence, cloud-based natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning to power their services. And with all the buzz around apps like Siri and Alexa, it’s clear that tech giants are competing for consumer attention in yet another area.
venturebeat.com  •  Share
Which API is right for your Slack app?
Slack’s three most popular APIs help developers build all kinds of apps. Each has its merits, depending on your app’s use case — whether, for instance, your app needs to be notified of events, pull information from a Slack channel, or stream all events being sent within a team.
medium.com  •  Share
New Bots, Tools, and Directories:
Andy Baio on Twitter
Andy Baio on Twitter
What are your favorite new Twitter bots? Anything launched this year, feel free to share your own work. (Great collection of Twitter art bots in the replies, check them out!)
twitter.com  •  Share
How to make a Twitter Bot with Google Spreadsheets (version 0.4) – Zach Whalen
How to make a Twitter Bot with Google Spreadsheets (version 0.4) – Zach Whalen
Today, I’m releasing an upgraded and much improved version of that tool. I’ve been calling it “SSBot”, but I welcome your suggestion for a better name. This blog post contains the instructions for setting up that tool, but the steps are also included in the spreadsheet.
www.zachwhalen.net  •  Share
this.tellPun(); on Twitter
this.tellPun(); on Twitter
hey guys! i made a bot to tweet lil date ideas! :> $ means little or no money. $$ means some money. $$$ means a wHOLE LOTTA MONEY
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Shakespeare insults (@shakyinsultbot)
Shakespeare insults (@shakyinsultbot)
tweet “insult me” or “roast me” to get your own insult, you paunchy flap-mouthed giglet #shakespeare #insults #botALLY
twitter.com  •  Share
Events
This workshop won’t be a step-by-step JavaScript introduction. Instead we will build something useful and fun, while learning some basic JavaScript concepts along the way
8/15 [Workshop] Let’s Build a Chatbot! - Artificial Intelligence : Las Vegas
8/15 [Workshop] Let’s Build a Chatbot! - Artificial Intelligence : Las Vegas
What are chatbots? Why are they such a big opportunity? What can they do? How do they work? How can I build one? How can I meet other people interested in chatbots?
We’ll answer these questions and more.
www.meetup.com  •  Share
This meetup is for anyone looking to better understand the emerging technologies surrounding text and voice-based software experiences. We want to invite professionals of all backgrounds to come learn from our experienced guests in a friendly, welcoming environment.
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