Elixir + Chatbots: A match made in a panacea

There is another massive shift happening with how we interact with companies through software. Users feel comfortable naturally talking with their applications through chat bots. Chat is the next generation of the user interface.

Companies like Slack, Facebook, WhatsApp, and WeChat have some of the most popular apps in the world and they are all betting on a messaging interface.

Elixir is the perfect language and ecosystem for building bots and for conversational interfaces. In this session, we will see how we can build scalable, realtime web applications (or “bots”) using a new library Juvet and the Slack API. We will see what a good bot architecture looks like and how we can integrate with existing artificial intelligence services to make our bots smarter.

Transcript

1. Elixir
   +
   CHATBOTS
   A MATCH MADE IN A PANACEA
   

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2. A Brief In
   tr
   o
   CHATBOTS
   

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3. A COMPUTER PROGRAM DESIGNED TO
   SIMULATE A CONVERSATION WITH HUMAN
   USERS
   CHATBOT
   

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4. USER PLATFORM APP
   OPS CHANNEL
   /HELP
   { CHANNEL: ‘C1234’,
   
   
   USER: ‘U8324’,
   
   
   TEAM: ‘T4390’,
   
   
   MESSAGE: ‘/HELP’ }
   CHAT.POST_MESSAGE(‘HERE IS THE HELP YOU REQUESTED:’)
   OPS CHANNEL
   HERE IS THE HELP
   
   
   YOU REQUESTED:
   

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5. USER PLATFORM APP
   CLIENT SERVER
   

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6. J
   os
   eph
   WEIZENBAUM
   

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7. J
   os
   eph
   WEIZENBAUM
   

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10. ELIZA
    

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11. SIRI
    2 0 0 7
    

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12. 2 0 0 1
    

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15. RADIOHEAD
    IS
    ALWAYS
    AHEAD OF THEIR TIME™
    

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16. imp
    or
    tant?
    CHATBOTS
    Why are
    

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25. FAMILIAR
    

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27. FAMILIAR
    

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28. FAMILIAR LESS BARRIERS
    

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29. MESSAGES SLACK
    TEAMS FACEBOOK
    

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30. BE WHERE YOUR USERS ARE
    

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31. PLATFORM SPECIFIC
    FUN STUFF
    BUSINESS STUFF
    

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32. MO’ MONEY
    

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33. FUN
    DEV CODE RUN BEEP-BOOP
    

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34. built today?
    CHATBOTS
    How are
    

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35. HOW SLACK WORKS
    A P P D I R E C T O R Y
    

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36. HOW SLACK WORKS
    O A U T H W / S L A C K
    

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37. HOW SLACK WORKS
    S C O P E R E Q U E S T
    

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38. HOW SLACK WORKS
    N E W B O T U S E R !
    

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39. USER PLATFORM APP
    OPS CHANNEL
    /HELP
    { CHANNEL: ‘C1234’,
    
    
    USER: ‘U8324’,
    
    
    TEAM: ‘T4390’,
    
    
    MESSAGE: ‘/HELP’ }
    HOW SLACK WORKS
    

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40. JAVASCRIPT LIBRARIES
    

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41. JAVASCRIPT LIBRARIES
    

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44. Elixir?
    Why
    

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45. PROCESSES
    PANACEA
    CURES WHAT
    ALES ‘YA
    SPEED
    HOT CODE
    RELOADING
    FAULT TOLERANCE
    

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46. WHY ELIXIR?
    B U I LT O N E R L A N G
    ERLANG RELEASED ELIXIR RELEASED
    1986 2012
    

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47. WHY ELIXIR?
    

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48. WHY ELIXIR?
    BUILT FOR COMMUNICATION
    

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49. WHY ELIXIR?
    BUILT FOR COMMUNICATION
    90%
    

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50. WHY ELIXIR?
    BUILT FOR COMMUNICATION
    

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51. FAST
    WHY ELIXIR?
    

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52. WHY ELIXIR?
    https://github.com/mroth/phoenix-showdown/blob/master/README.md#benchmarking
    

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53. STATEFUL PROCESSES
    WHY ELIXIR?
    

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54. WHY ELIXIR?
    PROCESS PROCESS PROCESS
    SUPERVISOR
    

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55. HOT CODE RELOADING
    WHY ELIXIR?
    

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56. WHY ELIXIR?
    DEV APP
    PROCESS
    PROCESS
    V 1.0
    V 1.1
    V 1.1
    V 1.0
    V 1.1
    V 1.1
    V 1.1
    V 1.0
    V 1.1
    

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57. WHY ELIXIR?
    H O T C O D E R E L O A D I N G
    

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58. WHY ELIXIR?
    FAULT TOLERANT
    

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59. WHY ELIXIR?
    PROCESS PROCESS
    SUPERVISOR
    PROCESS
    

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60. be improved?
    CHATBOTS
    How can building
    

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61. PLUG
    MIDDLEWARE
    CONTEXT
    ROUTER
    CONTROLLER
    TEMPLATES
    

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63. JUVET/JUVET
    

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67. PLUG
    > LISTEN TO SPECIFIC ENDPOINTS
    > INTEGRATE INTO EXISTING APP
    

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68. PLUG
    

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69. PLUG
    E N D P O I N T
    

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70. PLUG
    R U N N E R
    

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71. ROUTER
    > DSL TO DEFINE ROUTES
    > FIND APPROPRIATE ROUTE
    > MIDDLEWARE
    

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72. ROUTER
    D E F I N I N G R O U T E S
    

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73. ROUTER
    D E F I N I N G R O U T E S
    

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74. ROUTER
    D E F I N I N G R O U T E S
    

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75. ROUTER
    D E F I N I N G R O U T E S
    

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76. ROUTER
    F I N D I N G R O U T E S
    

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77. ROUTER
    F I N D I N G R O U T E S
    

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78. ROUTER
    F I N D I N G R O U T E S
    

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79. ROUTER
    F I N D I N G R O U T E S
    

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80. ROUTER
    F I N D I N G R O U T E S
    

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81. ROUTER
    F I N D I N G R O U T E S
    

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82. MIDDLEWARE
    > CHAIN RESPONSIBILITIES TOGETHER
    > EXTENSION POINTS
    > MODIFY CONTEXT
    > COMMON RUNTIME ON EACH REQUEST
    

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83. MIDDLEWARE
    D E F I N I N G M I D D L E W A R E
    

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84. MIDDLEWARE
    M I D D L E W A R E A P I
    

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85. MIDDLEWARE
    C H A I N M I D D L E W A R E
    

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86. MIDDLEWARE
    C H A I N M I D D L E W A R E
    

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87. CONTEXT
    > VARIABLES FOR USE IN CONTROLLER
    > ONLY UPDATED IN MIDDLEWARE
    

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88. CONTEXT
    

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89. CONTROLLER
    > ACTION PER REQUEST
    > PREPARE RESPONSE(S)
    

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90. CONTROLLER
    

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91. CONTROLLER
    E X A M P L E
    

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92. TEMPLATES
    > PLATFORM INDEPENDENT
    > SENT BACK AS A RESPONSE
    > INTERLACE DATA
    

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93. TEMPLATES
    E X A M P L E
    

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94. like MVC Apps
    CHATBOTS
    The
    tr
    adeo
    ff
    s on building
    

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95. ROUTING
    A NICE
    
    
    BLACK BOX
    YOUR APP
    ROUTER
    CONTROLLERS
    TEMPLATES
    AUTHORIZATION
    LOW-LEVEL API
    PLATFORM LIBRARIES
    HIDE THE PLUMBING
    

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96. FAMILIAR PATTERN
    MODEL
    VIEW CONTROLLER
    USER
    SEES USES
    MANIPULATES
    UPDATES
    

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97. EVERYTHING HAS A PLACE
    VIEWS
    CONTROLLERS
    MODELS ROUTES
    > BUSINESS LOGIC > HANDLES PLATFORM REQUESTS
    > RUNS MIDDLEWARE
    > PASSES CONTEXT
    > CREATES CONTROLLER
    > RUNS ACTION
    > HANDLES REQUEST
    > PREPARES RESPONSE
    > RENDERS RESPONSE(S)
    > RETRIEVE DATA
    > UPDATE DATA
    > INTEGRATES DATA
    > PROVIDES RESPONSE
    

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98. EXTENSION POINTS
    USER
    REQUEST
    PLATFORM APP
    ROUTER FINDS ROUTE
    MIDDLEWARE IS RUN
    CONTROLLER IS CREATED
    ACTION IS CALLED
    TEMPLATE IS RENDERED
    RESPONSE IS SENT
    USER
    RESPONSE
    

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99. OVERKILL FOR SIMPLE BROADCAST
    PLATFORM
    GITHUB
    > CHAT.POSTMESSAGE
    

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100. HARDER TO DEBUG
     > (PHOENIX.ROUTER.NOROUTEERROR) NO ROUTE FOUND FOR POST /SLACK/ACTIONS (TATSUWEB.ROUTER)
     > (TATSU 0.0.11) LIB/PHOENIX/ROUTER.EX:405: TATSUWEB.ROUTER.CALL/2
     > (COWBOY 2.9.0) /TATSU_NEXT/DEPS/COWBOY/SRC/COWBOY_HANDLER.ERL:37: :COWBOY_HANDLER.EXECUTE/2
     
     
     > (TATSU 0.0.11) LIB/TATSU_WEB/ENDPOINT.EX:1: TATSUWEB.ENDPOINT.PLUG_BUILDER_CALL/2
     > …
     > …
     > …
     > …
     > …
     > …
     > …
     C A L L S T A C K
     

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101. Future
     ENHANCEMENTS
     

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102. DIALOGUE
     

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103. DIALOGUE
     

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104. DIALOGUE
     TATSUIO/DIALOGUE
     

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105. RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY
     USER
     CAN YOU
     SCHEDULE
     
     
     A MEETING?
     APP
     I SURE CAN.
     
     
     WITH WHOM?
     USER
     WITH TIM.
     APP
     GOT IT. WHEN?
     USER
     TOMORROW AT 2.
     APP
     DONE.
     
     
     I SCHEDULED A
     
     
     MEETING WITH
     
     
     TIM TOMORROW
     AT 2.
     

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106. RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY
     CAN YOU SCHEDULE
     
     
     A MEETING?
     USER
     CAN YOU SCHEDULE
     
     
     A MEETING
     
     
     WITH TIM
     
     
     TOMORROW AT 2?
     APP
     DONE.
     
     
     I SCHEDULED
     
     
     YOUR MEETING
     
     
     WITH TIM FOR
     
     
     TOMORROW AT 2.
     CAN YOU SCHEDULE
     
     
     A MEETING?
     USER
     ACTUALLY CAN
     
     
     YOU MAKE IT FOR 3?
     APP
     DONE.
     
     
     I RE-SCHEDULED
     
     
     IT FOR
     
     
     TOMORROW AT 3.
     

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107. RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY
     DETECT PARAMETERS ALLOW CHANGE
     

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108. DISCOVERABILITY
     T R A I N I N G W H E E L S
     ARE YOU READY FOR
     
     
     THE MEETING?
     
     
     YOU CAN REPLY
     
     
     WITH ‘Y’ES OR ’N’O.
     APP USER
     YES.
     MEETING SCHEDULED!
     
     
     DID YOU KNOW YOU
     
     
     CAN REQUEST A RESCHEDULE
     
     
     BY REPLYING
     
     
     ‘RE-SCHEDULE’?
     APP
     

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109. VALIDATION
     ANDY WANTS TO MEET
     WITH YOU TODAY AT 2.
     APP
     ARE YOU AVAILABLE?
     USER
     BLERG.
     

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110. VALIDATION
     I’M SORRY ‘BLERG’ IS
     NOT AN ANSWER.
     APP
     ACKNOWLEDGE THE RESPONSE
     1.
     YOU CAN RESPOND ‘YES’
     OR ‘NO’
     APP
     PROVIDE CORRECT OPTIONS
     2.
     ANDY WANTS TO MEET
     WITH YOU TODAY AT 2.
     APP
     ARE YOU AVAILABLE?
     RE-ASK THE QUESTION
     3.
     

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111. SELECTION
     WHERE DO YOU WANT TO
     MEET MACKENZIE
     TONIGHT?
     APP USER
     1.
     1. COFFEE SHOP
     
     
     2. RESTAURANT
     
     
     3. BAR
     APP
     O P T I O N R E D U C T I O N
     

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112. SELECTION
     OK. WHICH COFFEE
     SHOP?
     APP
     O P T I O N R E D U C T I O N
     1. CAFE JOE’S
     
     
     2. STARBUCKS ON MAIN
     
     
     3. PERKATORY
     APP
     

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113. RESPONSE SAMPLING
     YES
     APP
     OK
     APP
     CORRECT
     APP
     WRONG
     APP
     NOPE
     APP
     LOOKS GOOD
     APP
     👍
     APP
     ✌
     APP
     THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID
     APP
     COOL
     APP
     

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114. TATSU.IO
     

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115. GO FORTH + CREATE BOTS
     

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116. @JWRIGHT
     JWRIGHT
     JAMIE@BRILLIANTFANTASTIC.COM
     STANDUP.FM
     

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