If we should be grateful to the iPhone for anything, it’s for giving us DamnYouAutoCorrect.com, the site that brings together the funniest automated typing suggestions from the iOS’s less-than-smart artificial intelligence. But what would autocorrect look like if it was actually intelligent? What would smart typing do for interaction between the user and the device?
If A.I. Type is anything to go by, it would certainly look very cool and would change completely the way that users input information into their devices. It might even make those tiny, inconvenient keyboards genuinely useful.
The idea behind the app is familiar. The program tries to understand what users are typing and predict the next word in the sentence. Unlike other programs though, A.I. Type works and is easy enough to use to make a real difference.
Begin typing and the app figures out the word first. Abbreviations such as “thday” might be suggested as “Thursday.” As you continue typing, it tries to put the word into context. Write “and fr” and the app would suggest “and Friday.” In some instances, the app might even offer word options without the user typing in any characters, its choices based entirely on the word string entered so far.
Importantly, the options are offered in a list so that you can choose the word you want to add — or none at all. When you can rely on the app to offer the word you want as one of its five options, entering information on a mobile device stops being hunt-and-peck on a crowded, tiny keyboard and starts being a combination of letter choices and finger swipes. It’s the kind of thing that would take some getting used to but once you’ve got used to it, sending emails and writing messages suddenly becomes a great deal faster and much more convenient.
The key to the app’s success though will depend on its intelligence. What the app calls “psychic word completions and predictions” are generated by the app’s own servers. Without an Internet connection, you’ll be dependent on the device’s own suggestions. On the other hand, the app is also capable of accustoming itself to your vocabulary, writing style and choices that it stores on the device.
A.I. Type isn’t a new concept. But it does work better and smoother than other predictive typing systems. The only question now is whether predictive typing will become the main user interface before voice instruction does.
Download AI Type at the Android Market:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.aitype.android&hl=en
