TikTok’s AI Genie is Coming! A new AI chatbot, Genie, could connect users to various AI features inside the app, including search, virtual humans, and music generation.
With the AI race heating up, TikTok, based on a recent filing in the U.S., looks like it’s preparing to launch its own AI chatbot to Western users.
According to Semafor, TikTok has sought to trademark “Genie” for its coming AI chatbot tool. This tool would enable users to pose questions in-stream and get immediate responses, among other functions.
As per Semafor:
“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.”
So TikTok is looking to become a hub for its AI functionalities, with the chatbot essentially connecting users to different elements of the app.
TikTok has been developing its AI chatbot for some time. In May last year, users in the Philippines got access to its “Tako” chatbot tool.
According to TikTok, Tako is only designed to guide users to other videos in the app and not to answer more complex queries.
TikTok’s next-generation chatbot would seemingly be a more robust offering, integrating all of TikTok’s various AI elements into one stream.
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This would also include its generative AI search function, which is now available in Douyin, the Chinese version of the app, and enables users to maximize discovery both inside and outside the app.
As reported by Pandaily (on December 23):
“The ‘AI Search’ feature is located within the search interface of the Douyin app, alongside other search services such as products, group buying, users, and videos. Users only need to input relevant questions or information in ‘AI Search’ to obtain answers generated by intelligent search technology.”
TikTok’s updated chatbot would seemingly incorporate this expanded search functionality, along with TikTok’s evolving AI functions, which also now include the capacity to build virtual humans that can live-stream within the app.
Another element, as indicated by Semafor, could be TikTok’s “StreamVoice” system, which can simulate a person’s voice based on just a few utterances. TikTok’s also developing AI music generation processes and text-to-video creation tools. These could seemingly be integrated into an expanded chatbot offering, making it much easier for TikTok users to find these various functionalities.
So, while Meta has pushed its AI chatbot out to all its apps, providing a new way to tap into its AI tools, TikTok would essentially follow the same blueprint. However, I suspect that TikTok’s tool will be more focused on functional discovery and making it easier for users to access all of its various tools instead of coming up with text summaries as responses.
Because that functionality on Facebook and IG doesn’t seem that valuable. I mean, sure, it’s amazing what the latest AI tools can produce, and it’s interesting to be able to, say, generate a visual based on a text prompt in-stream.
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But really, how many people are tapping on Meta’s AI search prompts to get more info on a post in the app?
I suspect TikTok will move in a slightly different direction, providing a more functional AI bot that will essentially incorporate all its expanding AI creation tools into one, making it easier to try them out.
We may find out soon, with TikTok moving to activate its “Genie” bot.
