Key Takeaways
- Salesforce is introducing a new AI-powered Slackbot that will be integrated into the Slack workspace
- The AI agent will be able to draft emails, find events on your schedule, and pull information from your chats and channels
- Slackbot will have access to your work chat and information, but will "always respect the permissions already in place"
- The AI agent will be able to interact with other products, including Microsoft Teams and Google Drive
- Slackbot will eventually be able to work with other AI agents, allowing users to work across multiple agents to complete tasks
Introduction to AI-Powered Slackbot
Salesforce, the parent company of Slack, has announced the launch of a new AI-powered Slackbot that will be integrated into the Slack workspace. As the company states, "Slackbot is your deeply personal AI agent for work, built natively into Slack for every employee, with no setup or training required." This new AI agent is designed to use your work chat and information to tune itself to your needs, making it a potentially powerful tool for increasing productivity and efficiency in the workplace.
Functionality and Integration
The basic sales pitch for the AI Slackbot is that it is fully integrated into your workspace, allowing it to draft emails for you, find events on your schedule, and pull information from your chats and channels, among other things. As the company notes, "What makes it different is simple: Slackbot starts with your context. And that context is what’s missing from the other tools out there." This integration will also allow Slackbot to interact with other products, including Microsoft Teams and Google Drive, making it a versatile tool for completing tasks across multiple platforms. According to Slack, these integrations will allow users to "do work across apps without leaving Slack," which could potentially streamline workflow and increase productivity.
Privacy and Security Concerns
However, the introduction of this new AI agent also raises concerns about privacy and security. As Slack notes, Slackbot is "informed by your messages and files," but "it sees only what you can see, always respecting the permissions already in place." However, it is unclear whether administrators or other users will be able to access the information that Slackbot has access to. As the company notes, Slack allows administrators the ability to request access to direct messages sent within an instance of Slack, which could potentially raise concerns about data privacy and security. As the company states, "it sees only what you can see," but it is unclear whether this will be sufficient to alleviate concerns about privacy and security.
Future Developments and Potential
Slack is also promising that Slackbot will eventually be able to work with other AI agents, like Salesforce’s flagship Agentforce, and will theoretically let you work across multiple agents to complete work while communicating entirely through Slackbot. This could potentially be a powerful tool for increasing productivity and efficiency in the workplace, especially given the recent research published in the Harvard Business Review that found AI agents are much better at internal processes than customer-facing work. As the company notes, Slackbot could potentially "capitalize on that trend" and become a valuable tool for completing internal tasks and processes.
Conclusion and Availability
In conclusion, the new AI-powered Slackbot has the potential to be a powerful tool for increasing productivity and efficiency in the workplace. With its ability to draft emails, find events on your schedule, and pull information from your chats and channels, it could potentially streamline workflow and increase productivity. However, concerns about privacy and security remain, and it is unclear whether the benefits of Slackbot will outweigh the potential risks. According to Slack, the new Slackbot is available to most Business+ and Enterprise+ customers starting today, so users will be able to see for themselves whether this new AI agent is more hype than help, or a valuable tool for increasing productivity and efficiency in the workplace. As the company states, "you’ll get to find out soon which future we’re living in," and it will be interesting to see how users respond to this new AI-powered Slackbot.
https://gizmodo.com/your-slack-is-infected-with-an-ai-agent-now-2000709707
