How the Sparkles Emoji Became the Symbol of Our AI Future

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses how the sparkles emoji has become a ubiquitous symbol used to indicate the presence of artificial intelligence (AI) features in various software applications.

🙋 Q&A

[01] The Sparkles Emoji as a Symbol of AI

1. How has the sparkles emoji become a symbol for AI in software applications?

• The sparkles emoji has become a near-ubiquitous symbol used by top software companies to indicate the presence of AI features in their applications.
• At least 7 of the top 10 software companies by market capitalization use the sparkles emoji in conjunction with their AI applications.
• The symbol is seen as a way to quickly communicate to users that a feature is powered by AI.

2. What is the history behind the use of the sparkles emoji for AI?

• The first known use of the sparkles icon in software dates back to 1990 when Adobe used it on the wand tool in Photoshop.
• An updated version of the sparkles emoji then emerged in one of the first emoji sets released by a Japanese mobile phone company in 1999.
• The sparkles emoji surged in popularity starting in mid-2020 when people on social media began using it to emphasize or add sarcasm to certain words.
• One of the earliest examples of the sparkles emoji being used for AI was in 2021 by an AI marketing startup called Jasper.

3. Why did companies start widely adopting the sparkles emoji for their AI features?

• Design and marketing executives at software companies said they started using the sparkles emoji because everyone else was doing it, helping customers widely understand that the symbol meant AI.
• Companies wanted a simple, familiar visual icon that could quickly differentiate AI-driven functionalities from traditional ones.
• The sparkles emoji was seen as conveying a sense of "magic" and wonder associated with AI technology.

[02] The Future of the Sparkles Emoji for AI

1. Will the sparkles emoji continue to be used as the symbol for AI going forward?

• Some designers believe the sparkles emoji will only grow in popularity as a metaphor for AI that is useful and will continue to be widely adopted.
• However, others predict that in 2-3 years, the sparkles emoji will start to disappear as AI becomes more normalized and accepted as part of everyday technology.
• The argument is that once AI is no longer seen as "magical", the need to call attention to it with a special symbol like the sparkles emoji will diminish.

2. How are some companies already evolving the sparkles emoji for their AI features?

• More recently, some companies have begun to tweak the sparkles emoji, such as Google's Gemini AI chatbot which uses a single four-sided star instead of the traditional sparkles.
• This suggests companies may start to differentiate their AI features by using variations of the sparkles symbol rather than the standard version.