Facebook Messenger's artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant M is learning some new tricks.
Launched in April, M appears in your chats to make you aware of certain Messenger features you might not have known about. In the near future, M will also be able to remind you to save content in your Messenger conversations, jog your memory about people's birthdays, and suggest you make a voice or video call. Facebook said it plans to roll out these features for US users, starting today.
Once the update arrives, M may suggest you save content such as URLs, videos, Facebook posts, events, and/or pages, which you can read, watch, or share later. With the Messenger "Saved" extension, you can then share your saved content in one-on-one or group messages.
Another handy new feature will remind you if someone you're chatting with has a birthday. If so, the virtual assistant will suggest you send them a birthday wish like a festive sticker, text, card, or video.
Finally, M will now remind you that you can make calls right through the Messenger app. Regardless of whether you're chatting with one person or in a group chat, M will now suggest a voice or video call in Messenger if someone in the conversation expresses an interest in speaking that way. So, if someone says "want to call me?" M will now surface a suggestion that will let you easily do that.
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"As with all M suggestions, the new features above are powered by machine learning and completely automated," Facebook wrote in a blog post. "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."
Facebook also pointed out that M will get better over time. "The more you use it, the more it can help," the company said.
If you don't like the idea of M butting into your conversations, you can mute the feature in settings or ignore or dismiss suggestions that aren't helpful.
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