Facebook Will Introduce an A.I. That Will Understand What You're Posting

As we edge closer to turning science fiction’s prophecy of artificial intelligence into, well, nonfiction, we currently only have the milestones that are taking us there to enjoy. One such milestone is the impending release of Facebook’s first venture in A.I. territory: the “DeepText.” The tech system is a program that is said to be able to analyze thousands of messages across 20 different languages — with apparently near-human accuracy — all in the bid to make responses from your posts better. For example, say you posted about wanting a certain item, DeepText will be able to offer up online suggestions on where to buy it, with the impressiveness falling on the A.I.’s ability to pick up on nondescript or slang language. Other implications for the introduction of the A.I. on to Facebook is to help with sales-related formatting when creating sales-related posts, as well as locate malicious software, and filter crude messages among other functions. The social platform’s currently implemented A.I. system already flags down inappropriate images, so DeepText will aim to take things to the next level, and hopefully become so smart one day that it’ll be your best friend.