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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