The peril and the promise of messaging-based interfaces

GUEST: If you’ve ordered a pair of pants via bot on Facebook Messenger, or “read” the news for more than a few minutes on the Quartz app (and don’t get me wrong, Quartz — your content is unparalleled), you know virtual conversations can be even more tedious than your seatmate on the redeye who just can’t stop talking.
As painful as many of these early chatbots are, the singular ability of messaging to simplify and focus your interactions with both people and i