Facebook launches 'M' virtual assistant driven by both human and artificial intelligence
Facebook on Wednesday launched "M," a text-based virtual assistant integrated with Facebook Messenger that unlike Siri, Cortana, or Google Now relies on both human and artificial intelligence to fulfill requests.
A contract team of "M trainers" is prepared to fulfill requests that the AI component can't answer, Wired reported. The AI currently lacks access to the social data Facebook normally collects, and so has to depend on earlier conversations and follow-up questions to respond. That could change, however, "with proper user consent," according to Facebook's VP of messaging products, David Marcus.
M is ultimately meant to be more powerful than rival assistants, for instance allowing people to get recommendations on vacations, restaurants, and presents and then follow through with bookings or purchases. It can even be used for tasks like holding a spot in the phone queue of a cable company.
Marcus said that Facebook eventually expects to hire thousands of M trainers, although captured data will be used to make M's AI more resilient, which may in turn limit the need for human labor.
The assistant should generate money for Facebook in a number of ways, one being partnerships with businesses. Marcus returned to the cable company example, suggesting that a lot of call demands might lead to a company opting for a direct presence in Messenger.
M is currently only available to residents of California's Bay Area, an intentional move to ensure commonality between M trainers and the people making requests. The product will eventually be offered to all Messenger users.
A contract team of "M trainers" is prepared to fulfill requests that the AI component can't answer, Wired reported. The AI currently lacks access to the social data Facebook normally collects, and so has to depend on earlier conversations and follow-up questions to respond. That could change, however, "with proper user consent," according to Facebook's VP of messaging products, David Marcus.
M is ultimately meant to be more powerful than rival assistants, for instance allowing people to get recommendations on vacations, restaurants, and presents and then follow through with bookings or purchases. It can even be used for tasks like holding a spot in the phone queue of a cable company.
Marcus said that Facebook eventually expects to hire thousands of M trainers, although captured data will be used to make M's AI more resilient, which may in turn limit the need for human labor.
The assistant should generate money for Facebook in a number of ways, one being partnerships with businesses. Marcus returned to the cable company example, suggesting that a lot of call demands might lead to a company opting for a direct presence in Messenger.
M is currently only available to residents of California's Bay Area, an intentional move to ensure commonality between M trainers and the people making requests. The product will eventually be offered to all Messenger users.
Comments
Somewhere Judi Dench just did a spit take and recoiled in disgust.
I get on Facebook maybe once a month? That would be a lot. I don't even have it on my phone, though it is on the iPad. I can't believe people still use it daily. Never installed Messenger.
Probably stands for Mark.
I get on Facebook maybe once a month? That would be a lot. I don't even have it on my phone, though it is on the iPad. I can't believe people still use it daily. Never installed Messenger.
Good for you. But odds are that you are young, and in proximity to friends/family.
For those of us with widely dispersed family and friends, FB is an amazing way to maintain or reestablish relationships that otherwise would have withered.
Don't be so quick to look down on solutions that work for people other than yourself.
I Wouldn't get too comfortable if I were Apple.
Siri seriously needs an overhaul. I think human assistance would help Siri a ton. Not to have them employed but to feed Siri data and make her smarter.
You asked a computer assistant for a gift suggestion? Yeah. You're right, Siri is the idiot in this scenario.
Good for you. But odds are that you are young, and in proximity to friends/family.
For those of us with widely dispersed family and friends, FB is an amazing way to maintain or reestablish relationships that otherwise would have withered.
Don't be so quick to look down on solutions that work for people other than yourself.
If you consider 35 young, then I guess. While my siblings and I are all in the same town, I have friends and family in Canada, France, Japan, Turkey and India, and scattered across the states from NY to Washington. I just can't handle all the Lameness.
I do log in a few times a year to see what they're up to tho.
Very thoughtful!