With A.I. advances, Facebook tests M, your newest assistant

Striving to keep up with the increasing demands of delivering users' News Feeds, Facebook is pressing hard to advance artificial intelligence.

Today the company reported that it's making headway in this area to create and test an artificial intelligence assistant dubbed "M."

Unlike other intelligent systems that might tell the user what the weather will be or to pull up a map, M is designed to complete multi-step tasks.

M, according to Facebook, is set up to purchase a gift, for example, and have it delivered to your mother. It also will be able to make travel arrangements and appointments and book restaurant reservations.

The new assistant program is in what Facebook calls a "small test" that is showing promise. However, to handle complicated requests and tasks, the system needs more advances in machine language, vision, prediction and planning.

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