Google Calendar New Goals Feature Uses Machine Learning NewsFactor Network

Google announced the new feature yesterday, on the day that Google Calendar turned 10. The feature works by looking at a user's existing schedule in Calendar and identifying windows of time that can accommodate personal goals. Goals was developed with the help of Duke University behavioral economist Dan Ariely, whose time-management app company, Timeful, was acquired by Google last year. Ariely told The New York Times that the new Calendar feature was designed as a "tool to help us against ourselves, and all the short-term things we agree to do in our calendar." Research has shown that people are more likely to achieve goals if they track their progress regularly.