Hype surrounding machine intelligence has reached a crescendo, but as with Big Data, useful frameworks and tools are waiting to be discovered among all the hot air. One such tool is wit.ai, a SaaS platform that allows developers to create conversational interfaces using natural language processing (NLP). Wit works with either text or speech inputs, helps developers manage conversational intent and allows custom business logic to be implemented using JavaScript. The system is free for commercial and noncommercial use and encourages the creation of open applications. Be aware that you must agree to let Wit use your data in order to improve the service and for its own analysis, so read the terms and conditions carefully. Another contender in this space is the Microsoft Bot Framework, but it's available only in limited preview form as of this writing. As with most things Microsoft, we expect the Bot Framework to evolve quickly, so it's worth keeping an eye on.

Hype surrounding machine intelligence has reached a crescendo, but as with Big Data, useful frameworks and tools are waiting to be discovered among all the hot air. One such tool is wit.ai, a SaaS platform that allows developers to create conversational interfaces using natural language processing (NLP). Wit works with either text or speech inputs, helps developers manage conversational intent and allows custom business logic to be implemented using JavaScript. The system is free for commercial and noncommercial use and encourages the creation of open applications. Be aware that you must agree to let Wit use your data in order to improve the service and for its own analysis, so read the terms and conditions carefully. Another contender in this space is the Microsoft Bot Framework, but it’s available only in limited preview form as of this writing. As with most things Microsoft, we expect the Bot Framework to evolve quickly, so it’s worth keeping an eye on.