TikTok is testing an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot that helps users search for and discover content.
The chatbot is called Tako and is being tested with select users in the Philippines, the social media platform said Thursday (May 25) in a Twitter thread.
“Tako is powered by a third-party chat assistant and is designed to help make it easier to discover entertaining and inspiring content on TikTok,” the firm said in another tweet in the thread. “No current plans for this beyond these early tests, but we’re excited to hear your feedback!”
TikTok competitor Snap opened its AI-powered chatbot called My AI to all Snapchat users in April after having introduced it as a premium service for paid subscribers in February.
Snap’s My AI runs on the latest version of OpenAI’s GPT technology and the company suggested it can be used to provide help in planning trips, suggesting recipes or recommending gift ideas.
The company cautioned users not to share any secrets with My AI and not to rely on it for advice, as it can make mistakes.
When expanding the availability of My AI in April, Snap also added the ability to personalize the AI, programmed it to adhere to Snap’s community guidelines and added an “age signal” so that the chatbot takes the user’s age into account.
“My AI is far from perfect, but we’ve made a lot of progress,” Snap said in April.
As PYMNTS reported in April, there has been a steady drumbeat of announcements promising to use conversational AI to transform commerce and payments.
In one recent example, Yelp added new search capabilities using AI and large language models (LLMs) to its business directory and review forum in April.
“Leveraging LLMs for specific keyword searches, Yelp will now better understand the nuance of what consumers are looking for, and highlight relevant snippets from reviews under each business listing in search results,” the company said at the time.
Also in April, it was reported that Google is building an all-new search engine amid increased competition from AI-driven rivals.
This followed Microsoft’s recent addition of new AI technology to its search engine, Bing, The New York Times reported April 16.