Almost any tech company worth its salt has an artificial intelligence project of some sort. Even though AI is still in its beginnings, considering the overwhelming potential it has from what we’ve seen so far, many developers are putting it in the forefront of their efforts. The technology is growing day by day and so is its marketability. The Internet of Things revolution has opened many opportunities for developers to enhance numerous devices and applications with the functionalities of the artificial intelligence.
After all, it’s what’s expected. The ever-demanding customers want a better, smarter and a more personalized experience. Artificial intelligence certainly delivers that promise as it can learn and mimic our habits. What we like and dislike, what, where and when we do the things that we do brings almost human levels of precision. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best AI apps available today that deserve your attention. There were a couple requirements taken into consideration in the making of this list. The app must be free to download and must support at least two mobile operating systems.
Cortana
No AI app list would be complete without a digital personal assistant included. Among the sea of digital agents (some great, some mediocre), Cortana is our pick.
So much has been said about Cortana in the past few years, both good and bad. But the one thing that undeniably stands out is its integration. Perhaps unlike any other app on this list (and in general), it has a rather broad reach. Cortana is Microsoft’s streamlined effort to provide the best personal experience across multiple devices and platforms. However, it would be foolish to merit it on that sole basis. In a nutshell – Cortana can set reminders, write emails, provide news and weather forecasts, handle your media, simply chit-chat with you and much, much more. Thanks to its adaptive natural language processing, using the digital assistant is as effortless as it can be.
With Microsoft constantly upgrading Cortana and integrating it into other services, there’s not much the voice-activated agent can’t do. Those without a Windows phone can download the Android and iOS version.
Digit
Here’s an AI app that actually saves money, if you’re not squeamish about providing your bank account data. Through its AI algorithms, Digit learns your spending habits and eventually saves a small amount of money every once in awhile from your checking account. Still, the automated savings app doesn’t go overboard. It transfers between two and 17 dollars and only if you can afford it. You can withdraw your money from Digit savings at any time with unlimited transfers, no minimums, and no fees.
If you’re still not convinced, there is a no-overdraft guarantee in place that covers the fee up to two times per customer, in the unlikely case of an overdraft. Digit is free and you can download it from the Play Store, as well as the App Store.
ELSA
ELSA stands for English Language Speech Assistant, giving you a clear idea what the app is about. However, it is much more than your standard English language teaching tool. Thanks to its voice recognition technology, ELSA acts as your personal pronunciation coach with over 400 lessons. The app covers all the basics, as well as advanced parts of spoken English. You take a test that assesses your English pronunciation proficiency and then, depending on the results, get a program to follow through. If there is a particular word whose pronunciation you’d like to know, you can type it in and quickly find out.
ELSA is a rather handy and an effective way to practice your English speaking skills with a relaxing approach. Best of all – it’s free for both Android and iOS users.
Google Trips
Google’s latest travel app acts as your travel assistant, helping you organize your trip by putting everything into one place. It achieves so by scanning your email for both past and future travels and reservations and gathers them into individual itineraries. You can customize them in any way you want. Google Trips helps out by suggesting things to do and places to visit, as well as notifying you about them when you’re close while presenting available reviews from other travelers. Some of the world’s well-known places and attractions feature curated suggestions and travel tips.
The great thing about Google Trips is that it’s also available offline. That way, there is no need to worry about losing data as you’ll always have access to it. You can download it via the Play Store and App Store for free.
Lark
Lark is a health app that acts as your personal weight loss coach or a fitness trainer. It monitors your exercise, sleep, and diet regime while texting you (sadly, no voice support) inspirational remarks and advice. Your device’s built-in sensors track your various activities and habits. You need to text or dictate Lark what you need and it will provide you with a detailed insight. This handy combination of a chatbot and personal assistant is available around the clock, meaning you can use it anytime and anywhere.
The paid Pro Membership offers additional benefits like personalized coaching plans, calorie logging and so on. However, the free version offers plenty on its own and you can download it via App Store and Play Store, where the app is named Lark Chat.
Prisma
In a market oversaturated with countless apps that specialize in stylized filters, it takes something to stand out. And Prisma definitely has that something. It reinterprets photos into artworks using the styles of real-world famous artists, as well as famous ornaments and patterns. It achieves this with a nifty combination of neural networks and artificial intelligence. While the results might not be perfect every time, there’s no denying Prisma is actually fun to use.
There is a limited number of artists in the data library, with new ones being added on a regular basis. Prisma is available for free download on the Play Store and App Store.
Recent News
This is a smart news app that personalizes your news feed. It incorporates various factors such as your reading habits, interests, social media sharing and others. Recent News then provides suggestions for relevant articles and topics you might like. You can further customize and personalize it by adding additional filters. The app has a rather simple, straightforward look with sections like Recommended, Home, Hot News, Local and All Topics. One of the highlights of the app is its one-minute news summary, which deftly covers topics of interest.
Basically, the more you use Recent News, the better and more precise its recommendations will be. It is available for free on Play Store and App Store.
SwiftKey Keyboard
One of the most popular Android keyboards made a major overhaul to its word prediction core and implemented an AI solution. The app is now powered by neural networks that adapt to user’s writing style. This includes next-word prediction and an autocorrect option, with the smart keyboard getting more accurate the more you use it. To make typing easier and quicker, there’s the multilingual typing (up to two languages at once), over 800 emojis and the signature swipe typing.
At the moment, there is support for over 100 languages for Android users. The iOS version is lagging a little bit with 30+ supported languages, but more are coming soon. SwiftKey Keyboard is available for free on the Play Store and App Store.
Closing words
The capabilities of artificial intelligence are wide-reaching, as evidenced on a daily basis. Constant advancements in AI development provide the best combination of software packages and hardware devices. One part of that combination are the AI apps. They exist to make our lives easier, as well as improve and make more effective what we can do and achieve as humans. The best thing about these AI apps is that most of them will get smarter over time, due to the nature of the technology. The transformation of our lives is already here and we are in for an exciting ride.