AI chatbot Tako is the first step in an ambitious plan
Riding on artificial intelligence to increase the average content viewed by users, presenting itself as an alternative to search engines. The novelty is called Tako and is an AI chatbot capable of responding to users’ questions but, more importantly, suggesting a series of clips in line with specific requests or preferences on certain topics related to previously viewed videos. That’s the very ambitious plan of TikTok, the most popular app for under-25s that continues to broaden its field of interest and win over an increasingly broad and heterogeneous target audience, even in terms of age. Squeezed between the stranglehold of the U.S. and Europe over how it handles subscriber data and its proximity to the Chinese government, TikTok is looking confidently to the future by seeking resources in AI.
What is Tako, and how it works
Discovering Tako was Daniel Buchuk of Watchful Technologies, a digital agency that explores industry innovations, according to which the chatbot is trained with an artificial intelligence model not in-house but from another, currently unknown, the company that is collaborating with the ByteDance app. Although it is an experimental model, according to the first screenshots intercepted by Buchuk, Tako’s icon is positioned on the right, above that of the TikTok profile. To activate it, one only needs to tap the button, which opens the screen to start the chat, with the AI able to answer several questions about the application’s operation. The most important function, however, is as a prompter, since by sponsoring content in the app, the goal is to reward the most active and effective creators and thereby lengthen the time users spend on TikTok.
To get an idea of how Tako works, following the correlation of themes, one can imagine how upon watching a video related to a dessert and being asked to know the recipe, the chatbot responds by proposing a series of clips explaining the recipe. In contrast, after watching a movie dedicated to, for example, smartphones, it will recommend other content about the main elements of the phone, so display, camera, and battery.
When faced with numerous inquiries as to what TikTok’s motivations are for testing Tako, a spokesperson for the app specified that the attempt is part of a desire to “explore new technologies that add value to our community.” Although Watchful Technologies has scouted tests of the AI chatbot on iOS devices in the United States, TikTok specified that the experiment is unavailable in North America or Europe, as it is limited to a select number of users residing in the Philippines.
Short clips will replace links
All details have yet to be released on whether Tako will be launched on a global scale. However, attorney Josh Gerben reported on Twitter that the company has recently applied for trademark registration for the Tako software. It will be some time before all users will be able to use the AI chatbot; however, TikTok has specified that at this time, responses may prove to be “not accurate or truthful,” clarifying that the tool is not to be used for medical, financial or legal matters. This hypothesis hints at the chatbot’s large-scale deployment.
Keeping in mind that TikTok is not the first among social companies to move into AI, as it was Snapchat that was ahead of everyone with the launch of My AI, the bot that recommends AI filters, the move by ByteDance’s app should be followed carefully as in the medium to long term it could be a game changer in terms of content search. Considering that Gen Z has already been informing itself on every topic almost exclusively through social apps such as Instagram and TikTok for a few years, Tako’s eventual success could take audiences and searches away from Google, not least because the current preference for video over text indicates that, perhaps, replacing Big G’s links with TikTok’s short clips would prove to be a welcome change for the social audience.
