Facebook gets AI startup to make Messenger smarter 

To build out a more elaborate personal assistant for the Messenger users, Facebook has acquired an artificial intelligence (AI) startup Ozlo that specialises in understanding text-based conversations.The four-year-old start-up claims that its virtual assistants can understand and provide answers to questions which do not have simple “yes” or “no” answers.

Artificial intelligence startup Ozlo:

• A post on Ozlo’s website read.
• By joining a team (Facebook) that shares our values and our vision.
• We will be able to continue to work on building experiences powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning.
• Ozlo has raised $14 million from a number of investors, including Greylock.
• The start-up has 30 employees, majority of which will be joining Messenger in Facebook’s offices in either Menlo Park, California or Seattle, Washington.

According to a Report:

• A report in ReCode on Monday quoted a Facebook spokesperson as saying.
• “They’re just going to be working with [Messenger] to continue their work with artificial intelligence and machine learning.
• However, there are no details so far about the financial terms of the deal.
• Earlier this year, Messenger’s product head Stan Chudnovsky said.
• Facebook was focused on text-based AI because voice conversations like that of Apple or Google required an extra step.
• Until we nail [text] we don’t want to go into a world where we teach people what we cannot do well.
• Chudnovsky said,otherwise we’re going to be in the world where people very quickly realise certain things.

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• In addition, that we don’t do well yet and then they may not give us another try.
• Facebook shut down one of its AI systems on Sunday after chatbots started speaking in their own language defying the codes provided.
• According to reports, the social media giant had to pull the plug on the AI system that its researchers were working on “because things got out of hand”.
• The AI did not start shutting down computers worldwide or something of the sort, but it stopped using English and started using a language that it created.
• Initially the AI agents used English to converse with each other but they later created a new language that only AI systems could understand, thus, defying their purpose.

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