Editing Internet bot (section)

==IM and IRC==
Some bots communicate with users of Internet-based services, via [[instant messaging]] (IM), [[Internet Relay Chat]] (IRC), or other web interfaces such as [[Facebook Messenger|Facebook bots]] and [[Twitter bot]]s. These [[chatbot]]s may allow people to ask questions in plain English and then formulate a response. Such bots can often handle reporting weather, [[postal code]] information, sports scores, currency or other unit conversions, etc.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What is a bot: types and functions|url=https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/online-sales/what-is-a-bot/|access-date=2022-01-28|website=IONOS Digitalguide|date=16 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Others are used for entertainment, such as [[SmarterChild]] on [[AOL Instant Messenger]] and [[MSN Messenger]].{{fact|date=November 2022}}

Additional roles of an IRC bot may be to listen on a conversation channel, and to comment on certain phrases uttered by the participants (based on [[pattern matching]]). This is sometimes used as a help service for new users or to censor [[profanity]].{{fact|date=November 2022}}