Admit it, you would be squealing on the inside if your boss told you that you were getting a personal assistant. In a fast-paced city where time seems to slip away ever so quickly, the news that Facebook has begun beta testing their new personal digital assistant ‘M’ inside of Messenger has forced us to sit up and pay attention to the very real possibility of getting our own PA in the form of an artificial intelligence assistant. So cool.
Unlike other AI-based services such as Apple’s Siri, Google’s Google Now and Microsoft’s Cortana, M is powered by artificial intelligence that is trained and supervised by real people (creatively dubbed ‘M Trainers’). The hybrid of AI and human interaction makes M stand out from the pack. While basic queries will be handled purely by artificial intelligence, M Trainers will have a helping hand in completing more complex tasks. No task will go unanswered, that’s the plan anyway.
Now you never have to leave the beloved app to find the best local coffee, send your mum flowers on her birthday, book that important business meeting at a restaurant or snap up flights to your next getaway! The convenience is great if you’re a consumer, but what does this mean for businesses? Are you a local coffee shop that wants to be on M’s suggestion list? Or are you a restaurant that wants higher traffic at lunchtime?
The substantial economic investment in employing thousands of M trainers will be offset by the revenue growth anticipated from M’s interactions. Feeding data generated by the service back to the AI systems will help reduce the burden on the trainers. It’s also not completely ridiculous to assume the business opportunities M could produce.
Artificial Intelligence relies on data sets and this is where the need for businesses to have a strong search ranking becomes increasingly important. Search Engine Optimisation takes hard work, coordination, skill and know-how, businesses need a highly trained specialist on their side to get it right. We know a few you could use…
