New Slack AI to Help Summarize Your Work Conversations and More

Looking for a summary of work discussions you might’ve missed on Slack? Slack AI is designed to help.

After sharing plans this past spring to introduce chatbot technology to its platform, Slack is rolling out a set of features powered by artificial intelligence. The company unveiled its new Slack AI on Wednesday, along with Slack Lists. Slack is testing both functions this winter before releasing them on a larger scale. 

With Slack AI, in-app capabilities will include channel recaps that provide key highlights and one-click thread summaries that give you the gist of a thread. Another feature will be search answers, a question-answer feature that returns related messages, files, channels and an AI-generated summary. 

With Slack Lists, users will be able to track and prioritize work tasks while collaborating with colleagues. According to the company, you’ll be able to “assign owners, update status, and discuss the task details all in one place” on designated threads. If someone is mentioned in a list, they’ll receive an alert. Slack Lists will also offer the ability to manage requests and approvals while connected to Workflow Builder, Slack’s customizable tool that helps teams automate routine tasks.

Slack also announced upgrades to Workflow Builder. The newly refreshed version includes a designated hub and is available for users with paid plans. 

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.