Inside The Making Of Allo, Google's AI-Powered Messaging App

Let the Great Messaging War of 2017 begin. Today, Google is launching Allo, a revamped messaging app meant to compete with the likes of Apple Messages and Facebook Messenger--two products that in recent months have steadily unveiled a slew of new features. Google thinks it could leapfrog them both, thanks to its most valuable assets: a wealth of data about what we do and search for online, and the billions of dollars it has invested in machine learning. When you message people, Allo creates smart replies akin to those found in Inbox--but those smart replies are carefully calibrated to both the content and context of your conversation. So, for example, if someone sends you a picture of them skydiving, you can immediately tap on a series of well-tuned responses: "So brave," "How fun," and "So exciting!"