Browse Definitions :
Definition

Facebook M

Facebook M is the social media company’s personal digital assistant for the Messenger mobile app. Facebook M competes with similar virtual assistants including Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, Microsoft’s Cortana and Samsung’s Bixby. However, M is available only on Facebook’s Messenger app and is exclusively for iOS or Android-based devices and not available on PC.

M assists users by providing suggestions and helping them find things more easily. The digital assistant provides Messenger users with in-chat suggestions and services. Unlike some digital assistants, M is not voice interactive but pops up in users’ text chats.

M uses machine learning and user data to become more effective for an individual’s needs. One unique aspect of the software is the significant amount of ongoing human-supervised learning involved. In case the artificial intelligence (AI) software has difficulty, M is backed by a team of human trainers. These trainers include ten staff members from Wit.ai, a company that Facebook acquired. Trainers work with M to help the AI learn new tasks. Through machine learning, M may eventually learn new tasks independently.

M is named for MI6 secretary Moneypenny (also known simply as M), who assisted Agent 007 in the James Bond movie series. The name may have been chosen as a reference to its namesake’s professionalism. M is designed to be functional in contrast to more human-like assistants that talk and joke with users. The assistant avoids controversial questions, often stating it has no opinion and referring users to network news for information requests.

M has a number of functions, some automatic and others that can only be enabled by human trainers.

Automatic functions include the following:

  • Coordinate plans based on schedules.
  • Suggest Facebook Pay when transactions are discussed.
  • Suggest restaurants, movies, games, books and more.
  • Suggest stickers to add personality to a chat conversation.
  • Make online reservations.
  • Order a Lyft or Uber cab.

With trainer assistance, M can also:

  • Call customer service lines, e.g. to handle refunds.
  • Order food, even without online ordering and pay.
  • Handle new requests or requests the AI does not understand.

Because of the human backup team, Facebook M is very resource-intensive. As a result, M may not see full deployment outside the United States. However, automated suggestions similar to those provided by M may be applied abroad.

This was last updated in May 2017

Continue Reading About Facebook M

Networking
  • Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

    Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a standard that defines how to establish and maintain a network conversation by which ...

  • network interface card (NIC)

    A network interface card (NIC) is a hardware component, typically a circuit board or chip, installed on a computer so it can ...

  • User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

    User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a communications protocol primarily used to establish low-latency and loss-tolerating connections...

Security
  • advanced persistent threat (APT)

    An advanced persistent threat (APT) is a prolonged and targeted cyber attack in which an intruder gains access to a network and ...

  • Mitre ATT&CK framework

    The Mitre ATT&CK (pronounced miter attack) framework is a free, globally accessible knowledge base that describes the latest ...

  • timing attack

    A timing attack is a type of side-channel attack that exploits the amount of time a computer process runs to gain knowledge about...

CIO
  • IT cost structure

    IT cost structure refers to the relationship between different types of expenditures within a larger IT budget.

  • Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI)

    Established in August 2000, the Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI) is a nonprofit organization that promotes the ...

  • business innovation

    Business innovation is an organization's process for introducing new ideas, workflows, methodologies, services or products.

HRSoftware
  • employee resource group (ERG)

    An employee resource group is a workplace club or more formally realized affinity group organized around a shared interest or ...

  • employee training and development

    Employee training and development is a set of activities and programs designed to enhance the knowledge, skills and abilities of ...

  • employee sentiment analysis

    Employee sentiment analysis is the use of natural language processing and other AI techniques to automatically analyze employee ...

Customer Experience
  • customer profiling

    Customer profiling is the detailed and systematic process of constructing a clear portrait of a company's ideal customer by ...

  • customer insight (consumer insight)

    Customer insight, also known as consumer insight, is the understanding and interpretation of customer data, behaviors and ...

  • buyer persona

    A buyer persona is a composite representation of a specific type of customer in a market segment.

Close