According to a recent article from The Verge, Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger are back with a new business that uses artificial intelligence to deliver personalized news.
The app, called Artifact, uses machine learning to identify your interests and even lets you chat with friends about articles.
The easiest way to answer the question of how the app stands out among the sea of personalized news apps like Feedly and Google News is to make a comparison between it and TikTok.
With the exception of serving text instead of videos, Artifact aims to work similar to the well-known short-form video app.
Opens to a feed of popular articles selected from a curated list of sources, including major print media and modest blogs. Artifact will track how much time you spend reading an article and use that information to populate your feed with the articles that have received the most comments and views.
Over time, Artifact’s algorithms will get better at recommending content that is more relevant to you, just like they do on other social media apps. Users of the Artifact beta are reportedly testing two features that will reportedly be incorporated into the core functionality of the app, according to a report by The Verge.
The first is a feed that displays articles and comments from users you follow, and the second is a direct message inbox where you can chat with friends about posts.
It is not the first time that an application has been inspired by the enormous popularity of TikTok. The endless selection of short, vibrant videos is meant to be an extremely addictive format, and TikTok’s ever-expanding user base is proof that it has succeeded.
As a result, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube were quick to launch their own TikTok scams on their respective platforms. However, Artifact is betting on text while everyone else is focused on video.
However, the report claims that Artifact has yet to formally commit to a business model. Advertising, according to Systrom, would be a natural choice, but he’s also open to revenue-sharing deals with publishers.
By removing specific posts, the news app will also make an effort to combat fake news on its platform.
The public can now join Artifact’s waiting list, and the company intends to let users in quickly. Entering your phone number is all that is required to register. Both iOS and Android users will be able to download the app.
