The chatbot Tako should revolutionize the search and navigation in the entertainment app and be ready for multi-faceted conversations. Find out what TikTok says about the test.
Google, Bing – and TikTok: Internet searches are currently changing on various levels, which is partly due to changing user behavior in the mobile and social media context and partly to the integration of generative AI in search engines. And in addition to the big players Google and Bing – the two largest search engines in Germany – TikTok is also increasingly relying on search features. The platform launched a new search bar for trends and products at the end of 2022, and the dedicated search home screen widget for iOS was recently added. Thanks to the latter, the Entertainment app obviously competes with Google; even the search engine company recognized the relevance of searching on TikTok last year. While Bing and Google are integrating fully deployable AI chatbots into search with Bing AI and Bard, including on mobile, TikTok is testing its own AI chatbot called Tako. This could completely redesign the search on the platform, but also permanently change the navigation and conversation of the users.
The new Google? TikTok launches Search Widget
Test in just one market: This is known about the TikTok AI chatbot Tako
On Twitter, the TikTok Communications team confirms that an AI chatbot is being tested for the app. This test is currently only running in the Philippines and an extended roll-out is not yet planned. According to TikTok, Tako is based on a third-party service, which is not named. The AI chatbot should help to find relevant content even faster and easier – via the conversation.
2/ 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. No current plans for this beyond these early tests, but we’re excited to hear your feedback!
— TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) May 25, 2023
Trademark attorney Josh Gerben has discovered that TikTok has already filed a patent for “TIKTOK TAKO” in the US. According to this, software is patented that enables the “artificial production of human speech and text” and also “machine-learning-based processing of language and ways of speaking”. A larger test in the US could follow soon.
TikTok has plans to launch a chatbot.
The company just filed a trademark application for:
“TICK MY HEEL”
Per the filing, TIKTOK TAKO will be a software program that enables “artificial production of human speech and text.”#Chatbots #TikTok pic.twitter.com/qx4pKGWhLd
— Josh Gerben (@JoshGerben) April 19, 2023
The Verge Editor-in-Chief Alex Heath refers to Gerben’s discovery in his post. The publisher also has screenshots from Watchful Technologies that show how Talko works and looks. The test shows that another icon appears above the profile icon of the video creator, which is displayed on the right edge of the screen in a video. It is roughly reminiscent of a ghost and refers to the AI chatbot Tako. Tapping it will open a chat screen. Then Tako introduces himself and asks the user to ask various questions.
The AI-based bot can then play suitable videos to users based on their questions. This can apply, for example, to food content for recipe questions, but also to news videos that respond to questions about current world events. However, a pop-up on Tako warns users that the chatbot is still an experimental model. Therefore, the answers and tips could also be wrong or incorrect, which is why users should by no means rely on them, especially when it comes to tips in the medical or legal field. In addition, all conversations with the bot are recorded, which is why TikTok writes:
Please do not share your private information wit Tako.
Not the first AI chatbot in the social media and entertainment context
The AI chatbot Tako is still only available for a fraction of the more than one billion monthly active TikTok users – in Europe there are over 150 million. Perhaps it will change the app experience significantly in the near future. TikTok’s Tako is not the first AI chatbot experience that users of social media and entertainment apps can have. The AI My AI supported by ChatGPT has been available on Snapchat for a few months.
Source: OnlineMarketing.de by onlinemarketing.de.
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