For the most part, chatbots on platforms like Facebook Messenger are either completely goofy or staidly functional AI aimed at adult users, but IssyBot is a new Messenger bot designed specifically for children. The bot's service is simple: it plays a word game that helps kids with reading ability, spelling, and typing.
IssyBot presents kids with a word search game embedded directly into text format. The bot will ask its user to hunt for a word that fits into the given category (things like a month, a day, a color, a pet, etc.) It then sends a message with a scramble of letters and the answer word snuck in, like a familiar word search but with just a single word as the answer.
The game is great for young kids, as they can play on the devices to which their accustomed while still learning.