Categories: Mobile AppsMobility

Facebook M Is Your New Social Media Virtual Assistant

Your Facebook account might be about to get even more personal following the company’s announcement that it is launching a digital assistant.

Named M, the new service will live inside Facebook Messenger, and uses its knowledge about you to try and make everyday life smoother than ever before.

Powered by Facebook’s latest research on artificial intelligence, M differs from other programs such as Siri in that it can actually complete tasks such as buying items, arrange deliveries, book restaurants, travel arrangements, appointments “and way more”, Facebook says.

Smart

From the examples provided by Facebook (pictured left), users interact with M through a normal Messenger chat, with commands and questions forming part of a conversation with the service.

Users can ask M questions about local services, finding a good place to visit, or gaining assistance for gift ideas, with the program responding with its own suggestions.

The service is being tested initially amongst Facebook users in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a further roll-out planned soon.

“This is early in the journey to build M into an at-scale service,” Facebook’s David Marcus wrote in a post. “But it’s an exciting step towards enabling people on Messenger to get things done across a variety of things, so they can get more time to focus on what’s important in their lives.”

The launch of M marks the latest evolution of Messenger as it becomes a core part of Facebook’s overall strategy, thanks in no small part to its 700 million users.

Earlier this year, the company launched the ability to send money to your contacts via Messenger simply by registering their card details.

There was also the launch of Messenger for Businesses, a new service which will allow companies to interact with their customers via Facebook. The service can also help customers, allowing them to receive updates about online shopping orders and delivery times, as well as being able to ask businesses questions about products or services.

These all form part of the wider launch of Messenger as a Platform, an expansion to Messenger which Facebook hopes will expand its reach outside of the social network and on to other sites.

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Mike Moore

Michael Moore joined TechWeek Europe in January 2014 as a trainee before graduating to Reporter later that year. He covers a wide range of topics, including but not limited to mobile devices, wearable tech, the Internet of Things, and financial technology.

View Comments

  • when i first heard of this I just
    KNEW!!! that this wont fly and it will be a sharp decline there after for the BIG
    ILUSSION that is facebook

    simply to much little or disinformation, fake profiles, its run amok with no style or care what so ever!!!

    all my "friends" yeah like in rachel from FRIENDS!! thats how real they are,,

    anyway i see 80 percent of the posts are

    im lost, im lonely, im bored, someone hang out!@@!

    please, yeah right, as soon as it gets more pressure and artificial,

    BOOOOM ahhah

    da da da da da..

    IM LOVIN IT!!

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