Rule-Based AI Chatbot

This project was developed as part of my DecodeLabs Artificial Intelligence Industrial Training.

The goal of the project is to build a simple rule-based chatbot in Python that responds to predefined user inputs using deterministic logic. The chatbot does not use machine learning or a large language model. Instead, it follows explicit rules so that each recognized input produces a predictable response.

Project Objective

The project focuses on the foundations of conversational logic and control flow.

The chatbot can:

• Accept user input
• Normalize text using lowercase conversion and whitespace removal
• Respond to predefined greetings and questions
• Recognize exit commands
• Return a fallback response for unknown input
• Continue running until the user chooses to end the conversation

Project Screenshot

View Chatbot Screenshot 1

View Chatbot Screenshot 2

How It Works

The chatbot follows a simple input-process-output flow:

1. The user enters a message.
2. The input is cleaned using lower() and strip().
3. The program checks whether the input is an exit command.
4. Known inputs are matched with predefined responses.
5. Unknown inputs receive a fallback response.
6. The chatbot continues running inside a while loop until the user exits.

Concepts Used

• Python control flow
• Conditional logic
• while loops
• Dictionaries
• Dictionary .get() lookup
• Input normalization
• Functions
• Fallback handling
• Deterministic response logic

Example Inputs

You can try messages such as:

• hello
• hi
• how are you
• what is your name
• what can you do
• help
• thanks
• bye
• exit
• quit

Project Structure

.
├── chatbot.py
├── chatbot-demo.png
├── README.md
└── .gitignore

Run the Project

Make sure Python is installed on your computer.

Run the chatbot with:

python chatbot.py

If needed, use:

python3 chatbot.py

The chatbot will continue accepting input until you enter an exit command such as bye, exit, quit, or goodbye.

Project Status

Completed and tested successfully.

Author

Shayan Akbar

Developed as part of the DecodeLabs Artificial Intelligence Industrial Training Program.