On June 26, 2018, Google announced the launch of Smart Reply for Android Messages, an artificially intelligent (AI) powered messaging service. Smart Reply uses machine learning to generate suggested responses to text messages based on their context. It is designed to make messaging more convenient and efficient by automatically suggesting up to three replies to a message.
The Smart Reply feature is available in English and Spanish and can be enabled in the app’s settings. When receiving a message, users will see three suggested response options at the bottom of the screen. Users can then choose one of the suggested responses or continue to compose their own custom reply.
Google developed Smart Reply using its natural language processing AI technology, which it first deployed with Google Now and has since used in other products such as Google Photos and the Google Assistant. The technology provides contextual understanding of the message and generates relevant responses.
Google says Smart Reply is available for all standard text messages, including multimedia messages. It is also compatible with the company’s new Rich Communications Services (RCS) protocol, which is replacing SMS as the standard for carrier-based text messaging.
Smart Reply was initially made available to users of the Pixel and Android One phones. Google says it is now rolling out the feature to other Android devices and that it plans to expand Smart Reply to other messaging apps in the future.
The launch of Smart Reply follows Google’s introduction of several other AI-powered messaging features, such as Smart Compose and Smart Text Selection. Smart Compose suggests words and phrases while the user is typing a message, while Smart Text Selection allows users to quickly copy, search and share text without having to select it manually. Combined, these features are designed to give users a more efficient and intuitive messaging experience.
