Syed Imran Haider 
The world is excited about AI, as almost all major tech companies, including Google and Microsoft, have begun incorporating technology in their products. It has also caused every tech news to mention Artificial Intelligence in one or another ways.
Accordingly, it is not at all surprising to hear that the popular short-video hosting platform TikTok has developed an AI-powered chatbot and has also begun testing it. Tako is the name of the new chatbot, which is now in limited experimental mode with selected markets.
Originally, Watchful.ai. – An app intelligence firm discovered the bot and publically tested it. TikTok also acknowledged the testing process being live through a public announcement yesterday. The app’s interface will display it on the right-hand side and above the users’ profiles.
The AI-powered Tako will respond to various questions related to the video asked in a natural language. Users could also ask the chatbot for recommendations for new content on a particular topic to watch on the platform. The AI-powered responses will appear with a list of results, including the video’s name, subject, and author, besides links to the recommended videos. Users could click the video’s thumbnail they wanted to see, and it will direct them to the content.
Tako – a New AI-powered Chatbot
According to a TikTok representative, the company is at the forefront of innovation to build the experience. It loves to explore new technologies to add value to its remarkable community. TikTok has begun testing for Tako in selected markets to boost search and discovery processes on its platform. The company also welcomes new learning from its community as it continues creating a safe and entertaining place that can inspire creativity and drive values.
While Watchful.ai claims to have found the AI-powered chatbot on iOS devices in the U.S. during testing, TikTok denies the public accessibility of the latest version in the country. Instead, it says Tako is under testing in other international markets, including the Philippines. The company also makes it clear that AI-powered chatbots will not be available on minors’ TikTok accounts.
TikTok seems to leverage some third-party AI provider to customize its needs, but the modification lacks in-house technologies from ByteDance and the company itself. The video-hosting service has informed its users through a pop-up message that Tako is still an experimental chatbot so its feedback may not necessarily be accurate or true. It also quoted a disclaimer applicable to ever modern AI chatbot, including Google’s AI and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
According to TikTok’s disclosure, users should not rely on Tako or any other AI-powered chatbot for medical, financial, or legal advice. It also says the company will view all Tako chats for safety purposes and enhance user experience. Tech analysts consider this one of the unfortunate complications when using modern Artificial Intelligence powered chatbots.
Since these technologies seem revolutionary, almost all companies want to log customer interactions for reviewing so that they can make their chatbots better. On the other hand, the privacy viewpoint considers such a practice a cause for potential risks, as companies do not delete the AI conversations after the chat ends.
