M was a
virtual assistant
An intelligent virtual assistant (IVA) or intelligent personal assistant (IPA) is a software agent that can perform tasks or services for an individual based on commands or questions. The term " chatbot" is sometimes used to refer to virtua ...
by
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
, first announced in August 2015, that could automatically complete tasks for users, such as purchase items, arrange gift deliveries, reserve restaurant tables, and arrange travel. By April 2017, it was available to about 10,000 users. It worked inside the
Facebook Messenger
Messenger is a proprietary instant messaging app and platform developed by Meta Platforms. Originally developed as Facebook Chat in 2008, the company revamped its messaging service in 2010, released standalone iOS and Android apps in 2011, and ...
instant messaging
Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and tri ...
service.
If a user made a request for M, it uses algorithms to determine what the user wants. If M did not understand, a human takes over the conversation, unbeknownst to the user. This allows M to learn.
[
Alex Lebrun ran the project, which began in 2015, and which in April 2017 the '']MIT Technology Review
''MIT Technology Review'' is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and editorially independent of the university. It was founded in 1899 as ''The Technology Review'', and was re-launched without "The" in ...
'' called "successful".[
In January 2018, Facebook announced that they would be discontinuing M. The company stated that what they learned from M would be applied to other artificial intelligence projects at Facebook.
]
Rollout of suggestions
In April 2017, Facebook enabled suggestions, powered by M, for users in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. M scans chats for keywords and then suggests relevant actions. For example, a user writing "You owe me $20" to a friend triggers M to enable the user's friend to pay the user via Facebook's payment platform.
See also
* Google Assistant
Google Assistant is a virtual assistant software application developed by Google that is primarily available on mobile and home automation devices. Based on artificial intelligence, Google Assistant can engage in two-way conversations, unlike t ...
* Clova (virtual assistant)
Clova is an intelligent personal assistant for Android and iOS operating systems developed by Naver Corporation and Line Corporation (a subsidiary of Naver). Clova, short for "cloud virtual assistant", was officially introduced on 1 March 2017 ...
References
{{Intelligent personal assistant software
Virtual assistants
Natural language processing software
Webcams
Messenger (software)
Discontinued software