It Doesn’t Need to Be a Chatbot

Integrating AI into existing products by defaulting to a chatbot often leads to user frustration and challenges with legacy systems. A more effective, incremental strategy involves using Small Language Models (SLMs), which are more flexible and can be deployed locally or on-device. These smaller models, often trained via knowledge distillation, can be applied to improve internal product analytics, remove user experience friction through natural language interfaces, and augment user workflows. This approach allows teams to build AI capabilities organically while managing risk and calibrating user trust.