Now consult doctors on Facebook Messenger

India's first Facebook Messenger bot is here. The social media giant had introduced 'chatbots' to developers last month and online doctor consultation platform, Lybrate is among the first to announce its Lybrate bot.

The Lybrate bot appears like just another contact on the Messenger chat list. It allows people to communicate and seek opinion on health queries from doctors and stay updated on health-related issues. The response time depends on the query. Users can add the bot for free by logging on to their Messenger account and then click on http://m.me/lybrate.

It has also integrated its 'Health Quiz' in the Messenger to make users aware about multiple health issues that are generally normally ignored.

Lybrate is also available as a smartphone app. It claims to have over 100,000 doctors on its platform from more than 50 specialties from across India.

Both Microsoft and Facebook are betting big on 'social bots'. These are automated programs that communicate with users to do simple routine task. Going forward Microsoft will introduce bots on Skype.

The software giant at its Build developers conference had ordered a pizza from a local Domino's outlet through its Skype bot. On the other hand, Facebook bots for its Messenger app aims to help users directly order gifts and flowers and more by eliminating multiple processes in between.

Chatbots have been known for some time but with businesses showing interest in artificial intelligence of late, bots might assume a key role in future.

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