AI Is Irreversibly Changing Mobile Personalization

Stop the presses! Our Co-founder and CTO, Rob Pope, is speaking at the Smart Home Summit in Palo Alto today and tomorrow. If you’re a developer based in San Francisco, come hear Rob discuss AI and IoT. Learn more here! 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming every industry while creating more along the way. Companies are paying AI experts huge salaries, and there is an AI app store based on blockchain launching next year. AI is even transforming our mobile phone experiences; startups in mobile advertising technology are using AI to deliver better ad experiences in mobile apps.

Meshing Mobile and AI

AI’s main mobile presence right now includes embedding the AI technology in a chatbot or in context-aware sensors. AI can help mobile apps engage and retain their precious userbase. With most mobile phone users only keeping 15 to 20 “must-have” apps on their phone while rotating out new apps to check out, AI could change apps and mobile app revenue forever.

In 2016, Gartner predicted that intelligent apps were going to be one of the top ten strategic trends for 2017. The research company also predicted that 200 of the world’s largest companies would develop intelligent apps in 2017. In fact, Gartner’s 2018 prediction mentions “the intelligent digital mesh,” which is the entwining of people, devices, content and services, with AI running seamlessly in the background of the mesh components.

AI is Everywhere Now

Taco Bell’s new app, the TacoBot, uses AI to recommend you an extra burrito or side of guacamole with your order. Apple’s new iPhone X has an A11 Bionic chip, which includes a neural engine created specifically for AI tasks, like iOS’s 3D face-scanning feature. And Android Oreo ships with TensorFlow Lite, enabling app developers all over the world to create machine learning applications. Although San Francisco-based mobile app developers will benefit from a number of opportunities locally, AI and machine learning apps are infiltrating industries all over the world, not just in Silicon Valley.

Every time we talk about AI and IoT, it’s impossible to avoid how Amazon’s Alexa transformed the speed, flexibility, and depth of AI app development. It’s not fully certain exactly how much voice control improves app engagement, but there’s definitely a more natural element to talking to a “virtual assistant” of sorts, rather than quietly clicking away on your mobile phone.

Integrating AI Is Easier Than Ever Before

Plus, with Amazon’s willingness to create an easy-to-integrate technology like Alexa, developers based anywhere can help expand Alexa’s features. This is completely different from competitors, like Google Home. Other industries are taking notice; Ford teamed up with Amazon to integrate Alexa into its new cars, allowing consumers to use Alexa at home and nearly everywhere else.

As we’ve mentioned multiple times in this post, mobile app developers will love the breadth of opportunities coming down the pipeline over the next couple of years. Whether you already know about machine learning apps or have yet to try AI app development, now’s a great time to start learning more for the inevitable AI mobile app revolution.