With the AI race heating up, TikTok appears prefer it’s getting ready to launch its personal AI chatbot to Western customers, based mostly on a current submitting within the U.S.

In keeping with Semafor, TikTok has sought to trademark the title “Genie” for its coming AI chatbot software, which might allow customers to pose questions in-stream, and get fast responses, amongst different capabilities.

As per Semafor:

“In Could within the US, the viral video app filed to trademark the title “Genie” for an AI chatbot software program that can, amongst different capabilities, simulate conversations, facilitate interplay and communication between people and AI, and produce human-like speech and textual content.”

So TikTok’s seeking to make it extra of a hub for its AI functionalities, with the chatbot primarily connecting customers to completely different components of the app.

TikTok’s really been creating its AI chatbot for a while, with customers within the Philippines gaining access to its “Tako” chatbot software in Could final 12 months.

Although Tako, in response to TikTok, is simply designed to information customers to different movies within the app, to not reply extra advanced queries.

TikTok’s next-generation chatbot would seemingly be a extra strong providing, integrating all of TikTok’s numerous AI components into one stream.

Which might additionally embody its generative AI search perform, which is now out there in Douyin, the Chinese language model of the app, and allows customers to maximise discovery each inside and outdoors the app.

As reported by Pandaily (in Decmeber 23):

“The ‘AI Search’ characteristic is positioned throughout the search interface of the Douyin app, alongside different search companies akin to merchandise, group shopping for, customers, and movies. Customers solely have to enter related questions or info in ‘AI Search’ to acquire solutions generated by clever search expertise.”

TikTok’s up to date chatbot would seemingly incorporate this expanded search performance, together with TikTok’s evolving AI capabilities, which additionally now embody the capability to construct your personal digital people that may live-stream throughout the app.

One other aspect, as indicated by Semafor, may very well be TikTok’s “StreamVoice” system, which may simulate an individual’s voice, based mostly on only a few utterances, whereas TikTok’s additionally creating AI music technology processes and text-to-video creation instruments as properly, and all of those might seemingly be built-in into an expanded chatbot providing, making it a lot simpler for TikTok customers to search out these numerous functionalities.

So whereas Meta has pushed its AI chatbot out to all of its apps, offering a brand new option to faucet into its AI instruments, TikTok would primarily be following the identical blueprint, although I think that TikTok’s software will likely be extra targeted on practical discovery, and making it simpler for customers to entry all of its numerous instruments, versus arising with textual content summaries as responses.

As a result of that performance, on Fb and IG, doesn’t really appear that useful. I imply, positive, it’s wonderful what the most recent AI instruments can produce, and it’s fascinating to have the ability to, say, generate a visible, based mostly on a textual content immediate in-stream.

However actually, how many individuals are tapping on Meta’s AI search prompts to get extra data on a put up within the app?

I think TikTok will transfer in a barely completely different path, offering a extra practical AI bot that can primarily incorporate all of its increasing AI creation instruments into one, making it simpler to attempt them out.

We could discover out quickly, with TikTok shifting to activate its “Genie” bot.