Apple, Google, Microsoft and quite a number of other companies have already dabbled in Virtual Assistants with varying degrees of success. It was inevitable that Facebook would also jump in some time soon, and here we are with M, a virtual assistant that lives in the Messenger.
With M Facebook is planning to incorporate machine learning AI with actual human input, which will be its distinguishing feature. M will be able to do things on your behalf where the human input comes in, it will be able to get gifts for your loved ones, book restaurants, help plan events and make appointments.
You can ask questions, M would answer and in that way it works like any other virtual assistant. But unlike them, M would be able to wait through automated messages, make calls on your behalf.
At present Facebook M is in very limited beta but would be made into an at-scale service. M would live in Messenger for now, using data from within in and not the main Facebook app. We'll take a deeper look at M when it becomes available.
Source: David Marcus (Facebook)
