WhatsApp, Spotify, Instagram: How the AI race is transforming everyday apps on your phone

When Whatsapp ChatGPT first landed late November last year, people were quick to realise that it was going to change the world, thanks to its endless abilities ranging from writing essays to generating code. But perhaps what many grossly underestimated was how quickly it would do so. The AI chatbot is generating shockwaves across the industry already, and tech companies are rushing to incorporate similar technology across their products to stay relevant.

ChatGPT may be a special, newly-released tool, but one of the implications of the AI race is that the apps you already have on your phone – like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Spotify – are also changing to get on with the trend. Below, we show how.

WhatsApp and Messenger

Earlier this week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg announced in a Facebook post that the company is creating a “new top-level product group” that’s focused on generative AI. This new team will start by building “creative and expressive tools,” but with time will focus on developing AI personas that can help people in many ways. These personas will be built into WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram – basically almost Meta’s entire catalogue of social apps.

When Meta’s plans materialise, you should see ChatGPT-like chatbots to interact with on WhatsApp and Messenger. Meanwhile, AI on Instagram will be used in creative filters and ad formats.

Gboard

ChatGPT aside, another OpenAI product that shot to popularity last year was Dall-E. The deep learning model generates photorealistic images from scratch with just a simple text prompt from you. Google was working on a similar product alongside called Imagen, which it now plans to integrate into the most popular keyboard app on Android – Gboard.

9to5Google recently spotted strings in a beta version of Gboard referencing “Imagen Keyboard.” Details are scanty, but from what we can tell, the keyboard will in the near future offer an option to send AI generated images alongside the pre-existing GIFs, stickers, and emojis options. Your chats may be about turn a lot spicier.

Spotify

Late February, Spotify introduced a new AI-powered service into its mobile apps called DJ that let users create their own personalised playlist and even commentates in a “stunningly realistic voice.” The music streaming platform has described the feature as a “personalised AI guide that knows you and your music taste so well that it can choose what to play for you.”

The service is developed by OpenAI and is available as a beta, but only to premium users in US and Canada for now.

Microsoft Edge

Google is the most popular search engine in the planet, enjoying a market share of around 85% (according to latest Statista data), but Microsoft is trying to change that. On February 7, Microsoft announced the new Bing with AI chatbot integration that provides answers to your queries in an alternate way, serving up summarised results in an explanatory tone rather than throwing links at you.

This new AI-powered Bing is being integrated into the Microsoft Edge browser as part of a sidebar for quicker access on desktops. The sidebar summarises webpages and acts as a writing assistant. Meanwhile, mobile users are getting access to the preview of the same from the homepage of the Edge app.

Snapchat

Meta may only be planning to integrate AI chatbot capabilities into WhatsApp and Messenger, but Snapchat has already pulled ahead, announcing a new chatbot for its app. Called “My AI,” the AI chatbot will work similarly to ChatGPT but loses the ability to generate essays. Instead, it seems like a fun chatbot you can pass time with.

In its blog post for the chatbot, Snapchat says My AI can “recommend birthday gift ideas for your BFF, plan a hiking trip for a long weekend, suggest a recipe for dinner, or even write a haiku about cheese for your cheddar-obsessed pal.” Users will be able to name it whatever they like and customise the wallpaper for its chat.

The feature is rolling out this week but will be available for Snapchat+ subscribers only as an experimental feature. Snapchat says its based on the latest version of OpenAI’s GPT technology.

Google

The Google app is a staple on Android phones since it comes pre-installed on most of them. In a blog post in February, Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote that search results will soon also include results in ‘easy to digest’ formats, so you can “quickly understand the big picture and learn more from the web.” Powering this is obviously generative AI, the same technology behind chatbots like ChatGPT, but the accuracy will be closely watched.