Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, who were the creators of Instagram, are back with a new project after staying out of the public eye for four years.
The duo announced the release of Artifact, an app that uses AI to deliver "a personalized news feed," on Tuesday. The app's name comes from the project's three pillars: "articles," "facts," and "artificial intelligence." In a nutshell, it's an app that works like TikTok by recommending stories to its users.
Together with Krieger, Systrom launched Instagram in 2010, and in 2012, they sold it to Meta for $1 billion. Leaving Instagram in 2018 was reportedly due to differences in opinion with CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the app's future and a desire to make it more similar to Facebook.
Krieger said on Instagram that he and Systrom had spent over a year "working with a fantastic team" to bring the service to fruition. Krieger stated, "We're gradually letting folks in as we expand up." On Tuesday, the public was able to join a waiting list.
Rather than focusing on photographs, as Instagram does, this app's primary focus is on words. According to Platformer, the first to disclose the launch, Artifact would recommend content based on interests and allow for discussion with friends. A primary feed will showcase trending stories from major media outlets and tiny blogs alike, while a user's feed will become increasingly customized based on their reading habits.
Artifact's features are most often likened to those of TikTok, another app that uses an algorithmic approach to content, albeit one that displays text instead of video and is more concerned with what the user loves than with who they follow.
This is thanks to Google's 2017 invention of the transformer, which made it feasible for computers to grasp language with fewer and fewer user clues. The Facebook model revealed what users' friends found interesting, then the Twitter model showed who users followed.
Systrom said only high-quality publications from both sides of the political spectrum will be allowed on the app. Artifact will reportedly eliminate misleading outlets and posts and use its own discretion to decide what stays on the network.
The release is timed to coincide with a resurgence of interest in the realm of social media. While TikTok's popularity has risen like a rocket, many other apps, including Instagram, have copied some of its most popular features.
Cover Photo: Artifact via Platformer
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