Google may have a new AI project in the works! The company is working on a new messaging app that uses artificial intelligence to provide users with answers to search queries, according to a new report.
Details on exactly how the messaging service would work are sparse, but chatbots could play a significant role, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the plans. The goal, the report said, is to allow users to engage with chatbots as another means of accessing search results and other information.
In addition to messaging friends, users of the still-unnamed service will be able to work with chatbots to get answers to questions they might otherwise use Google’s search engine to ask. The company will “direct users to specific chatbots, much like a search engine directs users to relevant websites,” the report says. Google may open the service up to third-party developers, who can create their own bots to run on the service.
While it’s unclear when such a messaging app would launch, Google has reportedly been working on it “for at least a year.” Additionally, the company tried to acquire 200 Labs — a startup that builds chatbots, according to sources at the Wall Street Journal — to bolster the effort. The startup, which hosts chatbots in the messaging app, reportedly declined the offer.
A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
Google, however, is not the first tech company to integrate AI into a messaging product. Facebookis also working on an AI-powered assistant called “M” that will be part of the company’s Messenger app. While M relies on a combination of human “supervisors” and software right now — it’s still in the early experimental stages — Facebook is aiming to reduce its reliance on humans, apparently, and make it available to more people.
Messaging apps are among the most popular apps on any platform, especially in Asia, where apps like WeChatdominate many aspects of daily life. While Google's previous attempts at social services haven't been very successful, the company hopes it will be able to both reach new users and retain existing ones as messaging platforms become increasingly ubiquitous.
