LinkedIn’s AI makes small talk for you

LinkedIn Smart Replies is an AI product designed to facilitate more efficient and productive conversations among professionals using LinkedIn Messaging. Developed by Arpit Dhariwal and his team, the feature offers simple, predefined responses to messages, such as "Sounds good" or "What time?" to save time for busy professionals. The development process involved creating a minimum viable product with static quick replies to gauge user interest, which showed a positive lift in key metrics like message response rates. This success led to the allocation of resources and further development of Smart Replies, which was refined through testing within LinkedIn before being rolled out to all users. The initiative aligns with LinkedIn's mission to connect the world's professionals and demonstrates the team's approach of making small, calculated bets to enhance user experience.