Codename Pick: Switchbot from Microsoft
Mary Jo Foley’s codename pick of the week on Windows Weekly 567 is Switchbot. Microsoft has been playing up all of the things you can do by building bots that work with Skype and other messaging systems and platforms, and this week they published a research paper about "Switchbot," a new Skype bot. This uses AI to help people detach and reattach from their work. For instance, when you’re leaving work, it will remind you to stop doing work things, and when you come in the next day it will ask you questions like "what are your priorities for today?" Microsoft claims in their tests that it makes people way more productive and efficient.
One of the main people working on this project is Jamie Teevan, and she’s Satya Nadella's technical advisor. She also worked on calendar.help, which is another bot that Microsoft built that’s currently in preview. It uses Cortana to help you schedule meetings through email. It’s free, and available for people who use Outlook Calendar, Google, or Office 365.