One tool from Web 3.0 that can be used by an information service is Artificial Intelligence, an example being the chatbot (also known as an artificial conversation entity, or agent technology).
Users can interact with a chatbot to a number of benefits to information management services. They are available around the clock, never tiring or becoming frustrated with customers. They improve accessibility by assisting users to retrieve content without having to scroll and navigate through the website (Allison, 2012). They are scalable: no matter how many clients, students, or users you have, there is only one chatbot (Raj, 2018).
From one perspective, they free up information management staff to concentrate on more complex tasks, or to provide better service to those who require personal assistance. However, the constantly changing technology environment as well as resource constraints may be off-putting to services implementing the use of agent technology (Talley, 2016). The chatbots will only be as good as the ability of staff to successfully implement them and provide their information base and structure (Abdul-Kader & Wood in Mckie & Narayan, 2019).
Many examples of implementation seem to indicate undergraduate students at universities are prime candidates for chatbots. According to Mckie and Narayan (2019), external students, those who would rather interact with technology than in person and first generation tertiary students are all set to benefit from this technology. Conveniently, the chatbot can give exclusive information about the way that users are interacting with it, so these benefits can be expanded upon (Raj, 2018). That is, if they can resist the temptation to use it for expressing profanity! (Allison, 2012).
References
Allison, D. (2012). Chatbots in the library: is it time?, Library Hi Tech, Vol. 30(1), pp. 95-107. Retrieved from https://doi-org.access.library.unisa.edu.au/10.1108/07378831211213238
Mckie, I & Narayan, B. (2019). Enhancing the Academic Library Experience with Chatbots: An Exploration of Research and Implications for Practice. Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association 3 July 2019. Vol. 68(3), pp. 268-277. Retrieved from https://www-tandfonline-com.access.library.unisa.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/24750158.2019.1611694
Raj, S. (2018). Building Chatbots with Python. https://doi-org.access.library.unisa.edu.au/10.1007/978-1-4842-4096-0_1
Talley, N. B. (2016). Imagining the use of intelligent agents and artificial intelligence in academic law libraries. Law Library Journal, 108(3), pp. 383-402.Retrieved from https://heinonline-org.access.library.unisa.edu.au/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/llj108&id=380&men_tab=srchresults
Amie's Blog 
Good discussion. I wonder if it is a case of patrons will use the reference service / system that suits their need at the time; provided there are both human and technology choices.
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