It looks like everyone wants a piece of AI pie. From Microsoft's new Bing to Spotify DJ, apps and services that we use every day are getting smarter with AI capabilities. Instagram co-founders announced an AI-based news app called Artifact a few weeks ago, which is now available for everyone. Created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the co-founders of Instagram, Artifact claims to deliver personalised news curations. I downloaded the app to check out its features and to understand how different it is from other content curation apps, and here is my take on the same. Downloading the Artifact app on an Android phone was pretty straightforward. All I had to do was search for the same on Google Play Store and click on install. Do note that, the app still says early access on the Google Play Store. Setting up the Artifact was as simple as it gets. Once I was done with the sign-up process, the app asked me to select ten categories to offer curated news. Looking at some of the categories, it is pretty evident that the app is optimised for the western market and not for India as I did not see cricket in the sports section. It's not a launch without a little sizzle reel 🌶 Come join us in @ARTIFACT_News ! pic.twitter.com/QrdXctfNl1 — Kevin Systrom (@kevin) February 22, 2023 Getting into the app, Artifact has a pretty simple user interface. There is a home page with news curated from various publishers and genres and then there is a dedicated menu for each of the categories. Then there is also a headlines tab, which offers curated world news. At first, Artifact just looked like a typical news curation app. Artifact uses AI to personalise news curation Artifact harnesses the power of AI to serve better news based on user behaviour. In the settings menu, the app recommends users read at least 25 stories in two weeks, and based on this data, the app will offer a personalised news feed. Similarly, it will also learn about user interest in a category and publisher to serve news that they may be interested in. Right now, Artifact looks like a pretty straightforward news aggregator platform, which also allows users to add various publication subscriptions, where, the app will prioritise the content from the same. By the looks of it, Artifact should be able to deliver a personalised news app and will get better over time.
