Launched just three weeks ago Artifact, the AI-powered news app, is now open to all.
Launched just three weeks ago Artifact, the artificial intelligence-powered news app by Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, is now open to everyone.
A few weeks after launching with a waiting list, the two co-founders have decided to open the app’s doors to all users, making it downloadable for iOS and Android. As of today, therefore, you no longer need to enter your phone number to use Artifact, unless you want to create an account and switch to another device, keeping your settings stored.
As you already know, Artifact is very reminiscent of the old news aggregators that have been gone for quite a while, but it has one feature that makes it distinctive and interesting. And that is the fact that “articles and facts” are aggregated by artificial intelligence. This is a way of selecting and displaying content that is very similar to what is in use on TikTok.
The feed is then powered by machine learning technology that, as it goes along, selects and proposes content based on the user’s elapsed time, and no longer based on clicks.
Once logged into the app, Artifact allows the user to select the topics of interest, at least 10, and then the “publishers” of interest. Once this is done, the app opens with the “For you” section, the main one, where you will start scrolling through the news stories and selecting the ones you are interested in. Artificial intelligence starts working when you start reading the news and, as we said, it begins to consider the time elapsed.
As you go along, you will see that the feed begins to bring interest content to your attention. After the 10 reads, you will also have unlocked statistics and see which topics you read the most and on which header/blog.
In the middle of the “For you” section, you will notice the Headlines, which are the major interest headlines that in turn aggregate articles on each topic.
What is new in today’s public launch is the addition of a social element that may, in some ways, lead to categorizing Artifact as a news social, as it has already been defined after all. It is the ability to synchronize your address book, then your contacts, to see if an article gets interest from your contacts. Although you will not know who and how many have viewed the article, for obvious privacy reasons, it is still a feature that not everyone will activate (the writer has not and will not, precisely).
And below each article appears the thumbs-down, a way to let the AI know what we like, the bookmark icon to save the article, and the icon to share the article.
Now, a final thought after using the app in the day today.
Finally, a very useful news aggregator, and it was needed. In some ways, it recalls Nuzzel which some of you may remember. Useful for saving and sharing news and interesting to watch how the artificial intelligence works.
It’s just not very accurate in some cases, because although there is interesting news, it is often several days old, if not weeks old. It will probably need some time, but the rating is very positive.