AI chatbot
Practice this questionOverview
A chatbot exposes a conversational model through your app. It may perform no tools or retrieval. Ordinary conversation alone does not make it an agent.
Why this matters
Users can request language help without learning a specialized interface.
An everyday example
A writing assistant answers questions about text you provide.
A technical example
POST /chat accepts a message and returns a bounded answer.
How it works
- Authenticate
- Select permitted history
- Call model
- Validate/display
- Store outcome.
Architecture and flow
React → Node → LLM → Node → React.
The insurance assistant example
Explain a supplied claim checklist in simpler language.
When to use it
Low-risk conversation and text transformation.
When to avoid it
Private claim facts need tools; policy knowledge needs current sources.
Interview answer
“A chatbot is an interface; I add retrieval or tools only when the task needs them.”
Benefits, trade-offs, and production considerations
Enforce authentication, bounded history, privacy, timeout, and usage limits even for one call. Return explicit model failures instead of invented success.