Sustainability & AI
Chatbot
Software that converses with users in natural language, now commonly built on large language models.
Definition
Software that conducts conversation with users in natural language, ranging from rule-based scripts to systems built on large language models.
Quick reference
At a glance
- Subject
- Sustainability & AI
- Editorial status
- Editorial draft
- Definition status
- Established
- Last updated
- 21 August 2026
References
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Overview
What it means
The archetype is Weizenbaum's ELIZA (1966), which mimicked a therapist with simple pattern matching and revealed how readily people attribute understanding to machines. Modern chatbots use generative language models, producing fluent but not necessarily accurate answers.
How it is used
Organisations deploy chatbots as interfaces to sustainability information: answering customer questions about product footprints, guiding staff through reporting requirements, or triaging supplier queries. Their fluency makes accuracy controls essential.
Why it matters
Chatbots are often the only part of an AI system a user meets. When they speak for a company's environmental record, hallucinated or overstated answers become the company's claims — a reputational and increasingly regulatory exposure.
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