APP STORE AWARDS
Trend of the Year: Generative AI
Generative AI captured our collective imagination this year—and on the App Store, we saw its evolution unfold in real time.
Apps started integrating AI at an unprecedented clip—chatbots gave us surprisingly thoughtful answers, while creator tools helped us brainstorm ideas, generate original images, and write a note with just the right tone. Although many AI features are still in their infancy, they gave us a chance to see, firsthand, the headline-making technology in action—with all of its benefits and challenges.
The field of artificial intelligence has been with us for decades (the term was coined over 60 years ago), but never before have we been able to interact with AI as naturally. Generative AI made apps more helpful—but more importantly, it made that helpfulness iterative, letting us refine the answers, images, and expertise apps provided.
This is a seismic shift, driven in part by innovations in large-language models that generate natural language, and diffusion models that generate images—all starting from a simple prompt.
Created by San Francisco–based OpenAI, the ChatGPT app gave millions a first peek at generative AI’s potential. Get tips on baking the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Pen a poem—or a rap—about your kid’s first sleigh ride. Come up with a training plan for your first 5K. Chat in Spanish. Optimize your résumé. Through a conversation where you can shape the app’s responses, ChatGPT helps with all of the above.
There are important caveats, of course. Large-language models sometimes “hallucinate”—or present inaccurate information as fact. (Studies have found accuracy can change over time—a phenomenon known as “drift.”) ChatGPT was trained on data published only as recently as January 2022. And even though safeguards are in place, the tech can produce offensive or socially insensitive replies.
Whether it’s large-language models or diffusion models that produce images, generative AI is far from perfect—but its impact on apps has been undeniable. It’s giving social networks, design and photography tools, news readers, education apps, and others entirely new powers that will no doubt improve. Here, a few standout examples…
Canva
With thousands of customizable templates, this easy-to-use design app lets anyone create beautiful social media posts, presentations, résumés, party invites, and more.
AI integration: Use Magic Studio, a suite of AI-powered tools, to create original images and videos by typing what you need, animate a visual element, write captions, and more.
Picsart
This all-in-one photo editor and collage maker gives you a huge assortment of creative tools—stickers, frames, filters, and much more.
AI integration: AI powers a suite of tools that can remove the background or unwanted objects with incredible precision, create an animated GIF or sticker, give your photos a serious boost in clarity and resolution, and more.
Our go-to social platform for home design, fashion, crafts, recipes, hairstyles, motivational quotes, and so much more.
AI integration: Thanks to algorithms powered by AI, computer vision, and expert human advisors, the app now surfaces Pins featuring a broader range of body types and skin tones for all users. See the tech in action on all of your women’s fashion and wedding-related searches.
Craft
This sleek note-taking app, word processor, to-do list, and personal organizer brings a beautiful sense of order to all your digital documents.
AI integration: The app’s AI Assistant can adjust the tone of your writing, help you brainstorm ideas, check for grammatical errors, and concisely summarize documents.
Artifact
By creating a customized feed for you, this smart news aggregator sets you free from social-media-driven algorithms.
AI integration: AI drives the entire reading experience. Artifact can summarize articles in three succinct bullets. Come across a sensational headline? Mark it as clickbait and Artifact will revise it to be more factual.
Sololearn
Learn to code Python, Java, HTML, and other languages in your downtime.
AI integration: The AI instructor Kodie troubleshoots your code and develops custom lesson plans to help you hone your skills.
SmartDreams
Kids (guided by their parents) can use this bedtime-story generator to create whimsical tales featuring...themselves!
AI integration: Little ones pick the setting, an animal companion, and other elements of the story, but AI does the heavy lifting, writing a quirky, snooze-inducing tale in about 30 seconds.