# Employing a Chatbot for News Dissemination during Crisis: Design, Implementation and Evaluation
## 6 Conclusions  
This paper has focused on the design, implementation and evaluation, in terms of effectively fulfilling the social responsibility function of crisis reporting, of a news chatbot used in a crisis situation. In this light, the pandemic crisis of 2020 due to COVID-19 was used as a case study, and the COVIDFO Reporter chatbot was developed, which aims to deliver timely and accurate information regarding the crisis. The novelty of the approach is based on the news chatbot's easy implementation for news organizations, as well as on its ability to effectively deliver crucial information to a wide audience (users) in times of crisis. Interesting conclusions can be drawn from the findings of the study. There is no doubt that automation is already having a significant impact on journalism and the dissemination of news in general. The introduction of chatbots in the media sector has shown that they can significantly reduce journalists' workload, allowing them to concentrate on quality, in-depth analysis and reporting [14]. Chatbots can facilitate an alternative narrative that can be customized based on users' preferences. This is significant in the cases of crisis reporting, where the dissemination of accurate, timely and customized information is very important for the public. The theoretical study of previous media chatbot projects informed the implementation of the COVIDFO Reporter, a working chatbot that disseminates information published by an international media organization. The chatbot was developed on a commercially available chatbot platform (i.e., Quriobot) and can be easily customized and updated. It offers easy and predictive navigation, enabling users to access the information that interests them, without having to navigate through the significant number of webpages that a media organization site usually incudes. Its programming is relatively straightforward and can be easily integrated into the workflow of a typical media organization. A thorough evaluation of various characteristics (performance, reliability, functionality, personalization, interactivity, ethics and behavior and accessibility) of the COVINFO Reporter chatbot was conducted by two separate groups of participants. The chatbot was positively evaluated in terms of its efficiency, although some participants reported minor technical problems. The preferred platform for accessing it was mobile phones. The majority of the participants was satisfied with the functionality of the chatbot, reporting that the language used was simple and accurate, and the information it provided was useful. The participants agreed that the chatbot was reliable, was functioning properly and provided answers in an acceptable time frame. As far as personalization is concerned, the COVINFO Reporter was reported to be representative, reliable and affective. All participants appreciated the chatbot's interactivity. No problems were reported in terms of users' privacy and sensitivity toward social concerns. Finally, all participants agreed that the COVINFO Reporter's accessibility was very good, and they experienced no problems in navigating the chatbot. Overall, the evaluation of the chatbot was very positive, and the minor problems that were detected were noted and corrected, thus improving its performance. Future extensions of this work could include additional research into the ways in which chatbots can be employed in crisis reporting, with a focus on their smooth incorporation in the journalistic workflow, with added features and inputs (textual and voice), so as to further assist users looking for specific information. Special attention should be given to chatbots' ability to collect data from users, thus enabling them to be utilized in crowdsourcing schemes, which can be extremely valuable during crisis situations. However, in this case, the use of a method to prevent the spread of \"fake news\" (misinformation) would be necessary so as to ensure the reliability of the chatbot and the information disseminated.