- TikTok Music introduces Tonik, an AI chatbot that creates personalized playlists.
- Tonik has limitations but shows potential to revolutionize music discovery.
- TikTok’s AI-powered music curation could give it a competitive edge in streaming.
Move over, Spotify! there’s a new bot in town
TikTok Music, a Spotify-esque app blending social features audio streaming, recently introduced Tonik, an AI assistant powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Tonik helps users find information about artists tracks, discover generate playlists, learn about upcoming concerts music news.
Although currently available only in Singapore, Brazil, Australia, Mexico, Indonesia, TikTok filed a US trademark application for the name in 2022, hinting at potential expansion plans.
AI-generated playlists just for you
Tonik’s ability to create personalized playlists based on specific prompts is impressive, though there’s room for improvement.
Competitors like Spotify Apple Music are also exploring AI-generated playlists, allowing users to request music matching their exact needs moods.
If TikTok can turn Tonik into a reliable music curator, it could give the company a competitive edge in the music streaming market.
During testing, Tonik demonstrated its willingness to generate playlists for various scenarios, from being trapped in the Grand Canyon to dealing a midlife crisis.
However, the chatbot took prompts literally, stopped generating when requests became more risqué, wouldn’t engage certain controversial topics.
Despite these limitations, Tonik shows great potential for AI-generated playlists, which could help artists find new listeners benefit from revenue sharing, unlike some other applications of generative AI.
