Getting the message out thereTelling Anne Frank's life story with a

Messenger bot

Lotte Belice Baltussen | Programme Manager Digital Strategy

3 November 2017 | Museum Computer Group Conference | IWM London

Main use cases:

why a Messenger bot?

See also: Medium

“We will be present on websites and platforms that our audiences use.”

Shaping content

Shaping content

● 25 practical answers

● 13 bio’s (people in hiding, helders)

● 6 x diary, WWII, the Secret Annex, must-sees

● “Bubbleproofing” text and visuals

Shaping content

● 25 practical answers

● 13 bio’s (people in hiding, helders)

● 6 x diary, WWII, the Secret Annex, must-sees

● “Bubbleproofing” text and visuals

Sensitive subject matters vs AI

“How will we deal with racist and antisemitic comments? What if the bot

understands someone incorrectly?”

Sensitive subject matters vs AI

Sensitive subject matters vs AI

Sensitive subject matters vs AI

So we chose to:

● Create predefined responses

● Refer racist comments and trolls to info about WWII

Results: user stats

60%40%

Facebook followers

M/F distribution

Messenger bot

M/F distribution

Results: user stats

Results: internal impact

● Click-throughs to site: 4.7%

● Less overhead in answering questions about tickets on Facebook

● Great for internal understanding of digital projects and workflows

● AI is not a catch-all term and certainly not a catch-all solution. It’s an investment

and still very much in development.

● People still are getting used to it.

● Wanting to control AI is bad for quality improvement. Go for click-only or let go.

Results: AI vs controlled responses

Future● Click-only approach vs improving AI

● Human to take control of the conversation when the bot is at a loss

● Make clearer the bot is:

○ English-only

○ Not a human

● Add content based on questions, eg about the diary being fake

Thank you!

● Our bot: https://m.me/annefrankhouse/

● Twitter: @lottebelice

● Medium: @lottebelice

● Email: l.b.baltussen@annefrank.nl