Twitter Is Testing A Bot That Can Handle User Complaints

Twitter is currently testing a new way to provide customer support using a bot. The company’s @support account will now be able to provide automated replies to basic questions and complaints.

The bot was officially released by Twitter this Wednesday, but it’s still in its experimental phase, according to BuzzFeed News. Twitter plans on reviewing how users engage with the new bot and will adjust its functionality accordingly. BuzzFeed tried the new bot out, but it was mostly capable of only redirecting them to a website to fill out forms.

Although the feature is still lacking, it’s become an easy way of reporting bad behavior on the site as it allows users to report tweets and accounts that are abusive. The bot focuses on five categories: Accounts, Abuse, Impersonalization, General and #TwitterTips. The Abuse category appears to be the most robust category that's available on the bot, according to Engadget.

“We’re testing a new @Support DM tool to make it easier for people to get help with certain support issues, directly on Twitter. This is a very early test and will be limited in scope for the time being,” a spokesperson said.

Twitter will be gathering data to further improve the bot during the test. The company didn’t specify on when it will be available for everyone, but it is another big step into Twitter’s desire to curb abuse on the platform.

Twitter partnered with IBM last month to use its artificial intelligence technology called Watson to fight online abuse. Watson is able to analyze and interpret data allowing it to recognize abuse patterns. It is capable of understanding not only language, but the intent behind it.

Twitter is also known for banning abusive users on the platform, most notably, the former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos. However, many still criticized Twitter for its lackluster effort in preventing abusive tweets and accounts.