Creating a Simple Chatbot in Python

Introduction

Chatbots have become an integral part of digital communication. They can handle a wide variety of tasks, from customer service inquiries to fun and interactive experiences. In this guide, we will create a simple chatbot using Python, which will respond to user input. The chatbot will be able to interact in a very basic way, offering predefined responses based on the user’s input.

Objective

The goal of this exercise is to build a simple chatbot program that:

• Greets the user when they start the conversation.
• Responds to basic questions such as “How are you?” or “What is your name?”.
• Exits when the user types “bye” or “exit”.

Python Chatbot Code

import random

def chatbot():
    print("Hello! I'm a simple chatbot. Type 'bye' to end the conversation.")
    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").lower()
        
        if user_input in ['bye', 'exit']:
            print("Goodbye! Have a great day.")
            break
        elif user_input in ['how are you?', 'how are you doing?', 'how's it going?']:
            responses = ["I'm doing well, thank you!", "I'm great, how about you?", "I'm doing just fine, how can I help?"]
            print("Bot: " + random.choice(responses))
        elif user_input in ['what is your name?', 'who are you?']:
            print("Bot: My name is ChatBot!")
        else:
            print("Bot: I'm sorry, I didn't understand that.")
    
if __name__ == "__main__":
    chatbot()
            

Explanation of the Program

The program is structured as follows:

• The chatbot function handles the interaction with the user. It continuously prompts the user for input until the user types “bye” or “exit”.
• The program processes the user’s input using a while loop, which keeps running until a break condition is met (i.e., the user types “bye” or “exit”).
• It checks if the user’s input matches any predefined phrases like “How are you?” or “What is your name?” and responds with a random selection from a list of responses for “How are you?”.
• If the user’s input is not recognized, the bot replies with a default message, saying it didn’t understand the input.
• The random.choice() function is used to pick a random response from a predefined list of responses for a given input.

How to Run the Program

To run the chatbot, follow these steps:

1. Ensure that you have Python installed on your computer. You can download it from the official Python website.
2. Create a new Python file, e.g., chatbot.py, and paste the code into this file.
3. Open a terminal or command prompt and navigate to the directory where your chatbot.py file is saved.
4. Run the script by typing python chatbot.py in the terminal and press Enter.
5. The chatbot will start, and you can begin interacting with it by typing your input.