TikTok is reportedly planning on adding its new AI chatbot, called Genie, which will target Western users. The ByteDance owned viral video platform has put in an application for the trademark name “Genie” in the United States which shows that the company is planning to release the chatbot soon.
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According to reports from Semafor, the new chatbot will give users a conversational interface that will facilitate human-AI interaction.
“In May in the US, the viral video app filed to trademark the name “Genie” for an AI chatbot software that will, among other functions, simulate conversations, facilitate interaction and communication between humans and AI, and produce human-like speech and text.”
Semafor
Genie set to revolutionize user-AI interaction on TikTok
The filing characterizes Genie as an application that enables and manages communication between people and AI. This is a positive move in TikTok’s strategy to improve the artificial intelligence aspects of the application and boost the interaction of users.
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Unlike its predecessor, “Tako,” which was launched in the Philippines and mainly provided users with links to related videos, Genie is rumored to have more features. Tako’s capability was only the recommendations of content inside the application and unable to respond to the detailed questions. Genie, on the other hand, is designed to be a more advanced utility that combines other AI features of TikTok in one application.
Image source: Tako TikTok leverages Douyin’s generative AI search for Genie’s capabilities
Some of the possible enhancements of Genie may include aspects of TikTok’s current AI solutions, like generative AI search. This is a feature of Douyin, the Chinese version of Tiktok, in which the user can type in questions or facts and get an automatic response. Therefore, due to the integration of similar features, Genie will help TikTok users explore and find the content they need not only within the application but also outside it.
Besides improving search capabilities, Genie is expected to integrate several other AI-based functionalities that are currently being worked on. This comprises TikTok’s “StreamVoice,” that is able to mimic a human voice even from a small sample, and AI music composing and text to video generation. These tools will be incorporated into a single chatbot and the ease of access of various services that are AI-based will be improved.
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In addition, TikTok has been working on virtual avatars to generate virtual personas that can perform live broadcasts inside the platform. This feature can be incorporated into Genie which will enable users to have an interaction with virtual humans and hence enhance the use of TikTok.
Genie is a part of TikTok’s larger plan to become a pioneer of AI in the sphere of social media. While other platforms, such as Meta, have integrated AI chatbots into all apps, TikTok uses seem to be more utility-based for discovery. In order to make it convenient for users to access and engage with its growing selection of AI features, TikTok plans to integrate all of them into one chatbot. This is different from the AI tools available on other social media platforms, where the main output is a text summary or a visual created from a text input.
Cryptopolitan Reporting by Brenda Kanana