Zoom into the awkward with Enhance on Kik [Bot of the Week]

While the rest of the world debates whether or not chatbots have enough value to really catch on, the chatbot ecosystem for the youthful Kik messaging platform is thriving with a frequently updated selection of polished bots.

After spending several weeks testing Facebook Messenger bots, I returned to Kik’s Bot Shop for this week’s bot selection and was pleasantly surprised with the wealth of options. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that from multi-player choose-your-own-adventures to style and fashion tips, the top recommended bot offerings on Kik are all about fun, less about function.

This is contrary to Facebook Messenger, which houses bots designed for more serious issues like blood donation and money lending, and it’s to Kik’s benefit. Chatbots, after all, are a new mode of technology, and while text-based AIs build the public’s trust  — a necessity before messaging is adopted as a method for important transactions — the bots that are thriving (or at least getting recognition) are simple and amusing, like Dankland or Christian Grey.

Enhance truly exemplifies the playful genre of bot that exists on Kik. Its only purpose is to make fun of your friends’ (or your own) facial expression in photos. Simply send Enhance a picture with a face or faces in it, and it will send back a GIF wherein the photo zooms in on a random face, with added shakiness for comic effect. No matter what the facial expression is, the result is always hilarious, but it works best if there’s a photo that you’ve been waiting to roast someone with for a while.

Even better, the bot works in solo threads or conversations with friends. It can be called into a group chat by typing @enhance and attaching a picture. If testing it out alone, you can also forward the resulting GIFs on to friends from the conversation.

To get Enhance on Kik, click here.