How Artificial Intelligence is Creating More Personal Experiences in Apps
Artificial Intelligence is no longer just a buzz word or a plot point in a sci-fi movie. AI is now at a point where it can drastically improve the user experience in apps. Current apps that use AI leverage it in a way where it feels seamless and emulates talking to a real, live person. When using these apps, I have sometimes wondered whether I’m interacting with a real person or if I’m being duped by clever bits of code. Not only does AI let apps better engage users, it also better serves user needs without having to dig through a complicated UI. Here are some examples of apps that have taken human-app interaction to the next level.
Luka
Luka is an app that uses natural language processing to give users recommendations for restaurants, reserve tables, and make plans with friends. Luka feels like an SMS conversation that you would have with a friend. The only UI in the app is the chat interface and the only way to find restaurants or book tables is by talking with Luka. The design is bare-bones, but that is the point. The artificial intelligence and conversations with Luka is what really makes this app compelling.
Quartz
Quartz is a news app that emulates artificial intelligence by creating a more personal 1:1 experience. It is also designed to look like an SMS chat instead of a typical RSS feed. This app doesn’t employ “real” artificial intelligence as you can’t ask open-ended questions, but you can let Quartz know whether you’re interested in a topic or want to see something else. Some of the responses are pre-canned, but the overall experience is still very compelling and a breath of fresh air compared to the plethora of news apps out there.
Amazon Echo
The Echo is one of the most buzzed about products coming out of Amazon for a long time. It lets users talk to Alexa, its own version of Siri, and do anything from play music to reorder toilet paper. It currently has 32,752 reviews on Amazon.com with an average score or 4.5 stars. Why have people responded so positively to this particular product? I believe it’s the personal 1:1 interaction you have with Alexa that makes it feel like you’re talking to a human. Not having to deal with any user interface at all is also the highlight of Echo and serves as a preview of where the future of apps is headed.
Siri
Siri is the most prominent example of an app utilizing AI, however my personal experience with Siri has been mediocre at best. Siri sounds amazing in theory, however its execution needs much more refining in order to be truly useful. Half the time I ask Siri for something, it ends up searching for it on the web. Unless you have a specific request that Siri was built to support (looking up the weather, asking for sports scores, taking notes, etc.) then you’re out of luck. This highlights the current limitations of AI. When it works it’s magical. When it doesn’t the AI starts to feel gimmicky. The good news is that Siri is constantly improving and it’s always fun to find those Siri easter eggs.
What’s Next
Artificial intelligence still has a lot of limitations but it’s getting better by the day. These apps all deemphasize user interfaces and focus more on serving compelling content through a seamless user experience. In the future I anticipate apps will increasingly utilize AI and eventually could be smart enough to anticipate your needs without you having to ask. IBM and Google are constantly working on the next breakthrough, so this might become reality sooner than you think. Depending on whether you believe in Sarah Connor’s warning from the future, this may or may not be a good thing.
