It’s common practice nowadays to ship out an AI assistant with a tech platform. Google has Google Assistant for Android, Apple has Siri for iOS and now Facebook has M for Facebook Messenger.
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M first came about two years ago, starting off as nothing more than a small AI experiment. After a long wait, it’s now finally available to users in the US, though you can expect it to be rolled out globally soon. Currently, M can offer suggestions when it recognizes intent in a conversation and initially will include a few actions to enrich the way people communicate and get things done.
Currently, it can help with:
- Sending stickers: M shares fun sticker suggestions for your daily life interactions like “Thank you” or “Bye-bye.”
- Paying or requesting money: M recognizes when people are discussing payments and gives them the option of easily sending or requesting money.
- Sharing your location: M can suggest an option to share your location during a conversation.
- Making plans: If people are talking about getting together, M helps coordinating a plan.
- Starting a poll (in group conversations only): Have a hard time making decisions in a group? M lets you set a poll topic and vote in group conversations.
- Getting a Ride: Talking about going somewhere? M suggests “Get A Ride” and shares an option of Lyft or Uber.
“M relies on AI machine learning techniques. It suggests relevant actions to help manage conversations or help get things done. We are bringing the power of M’s AI technology to support and enhance the Messenger experience and make it more useful, personal and seamless. To experience M, simply chat with a friend or a group as you normally would. M may make a suggestion in a conversation relevant to one of the core actions listed above, and then the M logo and suggestion will appear — it’s that simple. And M learns: the more you use it, the more it can help. You always have the option to ignore or dismiss a suggestion if it’s not helpful, and if you don’t want M’s assistance you can easily mute it in M settings.”
– Laurent Landowski and Kemal El Moujahid, Product Managers, Messenger.
As suggestions from M start to roll out to users in the US, Messenger users across the globe will also start to see a redesigned way to compose messages. The update will, as a result, offer an easier way to access and discover Messenger features directly from the text composer with a long press. A “More” tab is also being added to more easily access Messenger features such as Games, Payments, Share Location and Rides.
Source: Facebook
