It’s no secret that Facebook’s virtual assistant, M, doesn’t have true intelligence. Humans help operate the app within Messenger, which a limited number of people can use to order food, find flights or do other things that one day may be done by a machine.  

But M wouldn’t exist without work by Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research team — and the virtual assistant’s future depends on it. The research team sits on a metaphorical “conveyor belt” of research that can inspire new Facebook features and enhance existing ones, Serkan Piantino, director of engineering for the group, said on Tuesday, speaking at a roundtable discussion during The Information’s New York Subscriber Summit.