Slack is testing a major update that turns its Slackbot into a comprehensive AI assistant. The new tool can understand natural language to search for information, summarize conversations across channels, and create project plans.
The Verge reports that the goal is a “personalized AI companion,” according to Rob Seaman, Slack’s chief product officer. The assistant will appear next to the search bar, answering prompts like “What are my priorities for today?” or “Find the document Jay shared in our last meeting.”
The AI draws on a user’s conversations, files, and workspace to perform tasks. It can organize a product launch by gathering information from different channels or integrate with Google Calendar and Outlook to schedule meetings. Existing Slackbot features will remain available.
Companies can opt out of the new AI, but individual users cannot. Seaman stated that user data is processed in a private cloud and is not used to train AI models. The feature is currently in a pilot phase with a planned release for all users at the end of the year.