In many ways conversational interfaces and AI was introduced via chatbots. As consumers have become more comfortable with the technology, we’ve seen companies such as Amtrak, Whole Foods, Bank of America, and more invest significantly in adding chatbots to their websites, mobile apps and social media presences. With voice emerging as a new and intuitive way for people to engage with technology, we now see conversational experiences offering the ability to either type or speak your commands, providing a multimodal experience that seamlessly combines both display and audio. Providing this choice of modality for input becomes important as assistant technology is now moving into more public spaces, imploring companies to enable more natural options for users to communicate in noisy or crowded environments. Amazon’s latest public test of chat-based Alexa access is another sign of where assistants may be heading next.