Google launched it’s ‘allo’ app in September 2016. You and I aren’t really using it but India is. Many of the reasons are obvious:
- Its Google
- Chat first — Google understands that you & I aren’t ready to talk to bots just yet. We are where our friends are. So Allo introduces its bot in to the conversation between friends in the most natural way possible. As an assistant that helps us respond faster & make plans more seamlessly — it really is pretty amazing. Moreover, it’s a great way to get us used to the idea of speaking to machines.
A lot of Google’s Market share gains have come in nearly equal parts at the cost of Haptik & tapzo.
But does this mean that AI is gaining momentum? Ummm, not really. A look at their reach numbers reveals a much harsher reality about their business models
Just can’t wait for them to seek government intervention protecting Indian startups from foreign competition.
They matter to a small (tiny) number of people. In fact Tapzo’s approach makes sense. There is a limited need to build in artificial intelligence — at least from a downloads perspective. People will download an app simply to reduce the number of other apps they have to install on their phones. Even Allo’s total download numbers — 10M to 50M are paltry by Google standards. And remember that these are global downloads.
This is the short term view.
Over a longer term — I expect an increasing number of technology companies to build pieces of AI into their products. Some of these will be interactive, while others will run in the background without us ever finding out. Allo, Siri, Echo — think of all of these are version 1.0 of an inevitable reality.
Maybe the Sci-Fi Drama movie — Her — wasn’t too far off the mark on the future of AI & Human interaction. If you haven’t seen it, check it out.
Thanks for your time,
Ashish
- Team KG
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You can reach me on ashish@kalagato.com
