📝 Find new technologies about chatbots

[AttackOnMorty]

Cc: @adamcogan @jimmidier @duanxinhuan

To myself,

Pain

Feedback from @adamcogan

In that current Sprint there is something else to think about than just bugs. We should have a PBI that talks about finding out the current tech vs the new tech, incase we want to move off Azure Bot Framework (not likely right now). So the Technology.md would say what the current tech is, and what the new tech is and when we will move to it. Note: we would do new bots in the new framework.

### Tasks
- [x] Investigate
- [x] Create PoC
- [x] Record a Done Video
- [x] Review with @adamcogan

Acceptance Criteria

• [x] Meets Definition of Done
• [ ] Make the decision on move to which technology

Thanks!

[AttackOnMorty]

Chatbot Technology Comparison

Microsoft Solutions

Bot Framework SDK

Intro

Microsoft's Bot Framework SDK is a set of tools and libraries designed to help developers build, test, and deploy bots for various platforms and channels.

Date released: Apr 2, 2016

Pros

• ✅ Open Source with 7.5k 🌟 - Large community support
• ✅ Customization - Full control of the code
• ✅ Testability - Easy to write unit tests

Cons

• ❌ Dev Experience - No visual editor
• ❌ Complexity - Need more effort to build a chatbot from scratch
• ❌ AI Capabilities - No build-in LLM support, e.g. generative answers

Bot Framework Composer (Current)

Intro

Bot Framework Composer is a visual authoring tool for building chatbots and other conversational AI applications using Microsoft's Bot Framework SDK. It provides a graphical interface to design and manage conversational experiences.

Date released: May 19, 2020

Pros

• ✅ Open Source with 0.8k 🌟 - Medium community support
• ✅ Low Code - Better dev experience than Bot Framework SDK
• ✅ Customization - Ability to easily add custom logic via code

Cons

• ❌ Testability - No way to write unit tests for dialog flow
• ❌ AI Capabilities - No build-in LLM support, e.g. generative answers

Cost

💰: Around $500 (AUD) per month (For prod and dev)

Microsoft Copilot Studio

Intro

Microsoft Copilot Studio is a chatbot service provided by Microsoft as part of its Power Platform. It allows users to create chatbots for their businesses without the need for extensive coding or development experience.

Date released: Nov 5, 2019

Pros

• ✅ Low Code
• ✅ Adaptive Cards Support
• ✅ Generative Answers
• ✅ Power BI Integration - Automate workflows, e.g. send late email
• ✅ Teams Integration

Cons

• ❌ Non-open Source - Less community support
• ❌ Version Control - No version control support
• ❌ Customization - Not suitable for highly customized or complex chatbot requirements.

Cost

💰: Around $300 (AUD) per month (For 25,000 messages)

Popularity

1. Power Virtual Agent (Microsoft Copilot Studio)
2. Bot Framework Composer
3. Bot Framework SDK

Figure: Google Trends - PVA vs Composer vs SDK

Other Open Source Solutions

• rasa with 17k 🌟
• ChatterBot with 13.6k 🌟
• botkit with 11.2k 🌟
• botpress with 11k 🌟

Pros

• ✅ Open Source - Large community support
• ✅ AI Capabilities - Built-in LLM support, e.g. generative answers

Cons

• ❌ Integration - Need more effort to integrate with Microsoft products, e.g. Microsoft Teams
• ❌ No Adaptive Cards Support

Popularity

1. rasa
2. botkit
3. botpress
4. ChatterBot

Figure: Google Trends - rasa vs botkit vs botpress vs ChatterBot

Conclusion

We should go with Microsoft Copilot Studio for the following reasons:

• Adaptive Cards Support
• Generative Answers Support
• Power Automate Integration
• Teams Integration
• Cheaper cost - From AUD $ 500 / month to AUD $ 300 / month