Appification in the Age of AI (Continued)

Fernando N. van der Vlist; Esther Weltevrede

doi:10.17605/osf.io/hv34x

📄 📗Editorial Introduction │ 🌍Public

Appification in the Age of AI (Continued)

By: ✍️F. N. van der Vlist & E. J. T. Weltevrede │ On: 🕓2026, May 29 │ In: 📗Appification in the Age of AI: Exploring Embeddedness, Visibility, and Dependency (ASI Sprint Report Series No. 3), 8–29 │ DOI: 🔗10.17605/osf.io/hv34x

📂App Studies and AI Building directly on the previous work in this series, this report examines the ‘appification of AI’—how AI creeps into our daily lives through various new types of applications and emerging app ecosystems. As the landscape shifts from generative to agentic AI, our central analytical concern is AI’s increasing embeddedness, visibility, and dependency as it transitions into an invisible, foundational infrastructure. Drawing on app studies, platform studies, and critical AI studies, the studies included in this collection investigate this unfolding process across three dimensions: AI-powered applications, everyday uses, and infrastructural integration. Through a series of mappings and five new case studies developed in collaboration with Master’s students, the findings demonstrate AI’s systematic transition into an invisible, infrastructural foundation that redistributes power towards dominant platforms. Specific studies show that first-party AI apps deepen the infrastructural reach of providers through a ‘gradient of absorption’ in mundane task fulfillment; AI mental health apps introduce distinct app logics that reconfigure care; and in domains like food tracking and beauty, there is a consistent gap between developers’ advanced technological narratives and users’ practical, often culturally localised, interpretation of AI. Ultimately, the report highlights the critical significance of app and platform studies for understanding the cultural, economic, and political dimensions of AI as it becomes structurally integrated into the apps and infrastructures of everyday life.

🏷appification 🏷app studies 🏷embeddedness 🏷artificial intelligence (AI) 🏷app ecosystems 🏷app stores 🏷mobile apps 🏷AI app cultures 🏷political economy 🏷data-sprinting

ℹNote: This article is the editorial introduction of Appification in the Age of AI: Exploring Embeddedness, Visibility, and Dependency, a report in the App Studies Initiative (ASI) Sprint Report Series edited by F. N. van der Vlist and E. J. T. Weltevrede. Contributions represent the research undertaken by students as part of the 2025–2026 Master’s elective course ‘Appification: The Cultures and Economies of Apps’ during its concluding themed ‘data sprint’, and the second iteration of the Cultural Data & AI Master’ Embedded Research Project ‘The Appification of AI: Exploring Emerging AI App Ecosystems and Infrastructures’, both developed, taught, and supervised by the editors in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam. All contributors are listed in the Contributors section of the report.

Access: ↪ 🔓 🔗Access [appstudies.org] Download: ↪ 🔓 📥Download [PDF]

📋 ✍Cite

📋Cite (APA)	van der Vlist, F. N., & Weltevrede, E. J. T. (Eds.) (2026, May 29). Appification in the Age of AI: Exploring Embeddedness, Visibility, and Dependency (ASI Sprint Report Series No. 3). App Studies Initiative (ASI). DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x. https://appstudies.org/research-output/publications/asi-sprint-report-series/.
📋Cite (Introduction)	van der Vlist, F. N., & Weltevrede, E. J. T. (2026, May 29). Appification in the Age of AI (Continued) [Editorial Introduction]. In F. N. van der Vlist & E. J. T. Weltevrede (Eds.), Appification in the Age of AI: Exploring Embeddedness, Visibility, and Dependency (ASI Sprint Report Series No. 3). App Studies Initiative (ASI), pp. 8–29. DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x. https://appstudies.org/research-output/publications/asi-sprint-report-series/.
🔗Link (DOI)	https://doi.org/10.17605/osf.io/hv34x

Kind	Sprint Report; Editorial
Author	F. N. van der Vlist; E. J. T. Weltevrede
Publication Date	2026, May 29
Series Title	ASI Sprint Report Series
Report Number	3
Editor	F. N. van der Vlist; E. J. T. Weltevrede
Pages	8–29 (22)
Publisher	App Studies Initiative (ASI)
Identifier	10.17605/osf.io/hv34x [self]; 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x [part of]; https://appstudies.org/research-output/publications/asi-sprint-report-series/ [part of]
Download	asi-sprint-report-no-3-appification-in-the-age-of-ai.pdf
License	CC BY 4.0

appification-in-the-age-of-ai.pdf#page=4	ASI Sprint Report Series	p. ii	📄Front Matter	🌍Public
appification-in-the-age-of-ai.pdf#page=5	Title Page	p. iii	📄Front Matter	🌍Public
appification-in-the-age-of-ai.pdf#page=7	Contents	p. v–vi	📄Front Matter	🌍Public
appification-in-the-age-of-ai.pdf#page=9	About this Report	p. vii	📄Front Matter	🌍Public

appification-in-the-age-of-ai.pdf#page=10
├ 📄Page: appification-in-the-age-of-ai-continued.html
├ Part of 📗Report (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x
└ Part of Series (URL): appstudies.org

[Chapter 1] Appification in the Age of AI (Continued)
✍️F. N. van der Vlist & E. J. T. Weltevrede

pp. 8–29

📄 📗Editorial Introduction

Embedded Research Project

appification-in-the-age-of-ai.pdf#page=33
├ Linked to 🗄Dataset (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/hmdkp

[Chapter 2] The Embeddedness and (In)visibility of AI:
A Multi-Sided Platform Analysis
✍W. Gao, Y. Xu, E. Kramers, Y. Liu, M. Kroon, A. Kitapci, T. Heuperman,
👓F. N. van der Vlist [PI], E. J. T. Weltevrede [Co-PI], & A. Helmond [Co-I]

pp. 31–143

📄Section

🌍Public

Spring Sprint

appification-in-the-age-of-ai.pdf#page=147	[Chapter 3] How Is AI ‘Appifying’ Mundane Tasks?: Mapping Task Fulfillment in First-Party AI Apps ✍J. L. Arellano, J. M. Buklarewicz, H. Jin, B. Kotuláková, & L. Oliva	pp. 145–165	📄Chapter	🌍Public
appification-in-the-age-of-ai.pdf#page=168	[Chapter 4] Feeding the Raccoon: Anthropomorphism and Gamification in AI Food-Tracking Apps ✍A. Canzi, K. Vlieger, I. Veltman, N. Pusenius, & A. van Oostrom	pp. 166–181	📄Chapter	🌍Public
appification-in-the-age-of-ai.pdf#page=184	[Chapter 5] The AI Therapist Will See You Now: How AI Apps are Reshaping Access to Mental Health Care ✍S. Petreikytė, T. Calor, N. Ceylan, V. Senatore, & A. Stampanoni	pp. 182–199	📄Chapter	🌍Public
appification-in-the-age-of-ai.pdf#page=202	[Chapter 6] The Cultural Geography of AI Beauty: A Cross-National Analysis of Aesthetics in Chinese, South Korean, and Japanese Beauty Apps ✍W. Guo, X. Jing, Z. Yuan	pp. 200–218	📄Chapter	🌍Public

appification-in-the-age-of-ai.pdf#page=221

Contributors

pp. 219–223

📄Back Matter

🌍Public

🖇Attached ⋮

	🖇Attached	Name	🕓Date Modified ↧	Kind	Access
↩	[Parent Directory]
📌	platforms-polity.html ├ URL: politybooks.com ├ URL: wiley.com ├ ISBN: 978-1-5095-6810-9 ├ ISBN: 978-1-5095-6811-6 ├ e-ISBN: 978-1-5095-6812-3 ├ Linked to URL: politybooks.com ├ Funded by Grant №: SPI.2021.001 ├ Funded by Grant №: VI.Veni.241C.001 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	Platforms (Polity)	2026-06-05	📗Book	🔒Closed
↪	appstudies.org ├ OSF DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x ├ Part of 📗Report (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x ├ Part of Series (URL): appstudies.org ├ Linked to 🗄Dataset (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/hmdkp └ Linked to 📄Page: appification-in-the-age-of-ai-continued.html	The Embeddedness and (In)visibility of AI	2026-05-29	📗Report Section	🔓Open Access
📌	appification-in-the-age-of-ai-continued.html ├ URL: appstudies.org ├ Part of 📗Report (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x └ Part of Series (URL): appstudies.org	Appification in the Age of AI (Continued)	2026-05-29	📄 📗Editorial Introduction	🔓Open Access
↪	appstudies.org ├ OSF DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x ├ Part of 📗Report (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x ├ Part of Series (URL): appstudies.org └ Linked to 📄Page: appification-in-the-age-of-ai-continued.html	Appification in the Age of AI, ASI Sprint Report Series #3	2026-05-29	📗Sprint Report	🔓Open Access
↪	appstudies.org ├ OSF DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x ├ Part of 📗Report (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x ├ Part of Series (URL): appstudies.org └ Linked to 🗄Dataset (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x	The Appification of AI	2025-05-28	📗Report Section	🔓Open Access
↪	appstudies.org ├ OSF DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x ├ Part of 📗Report (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x └ Part of Series (URL): appstudies.org	Appification in the Age of AI, ASI Sprint Report Series #2	2025-05-28	📗Sprint Report	🔓Open Access
↪	rathenau.nl └ Part of URL: rathenau.nl	De verborgen wereld achter AI, Verrekijkers #S1E7	2025-05-23	🎙Podcast Episode	🌍Public
📌	introduction-governing-the-digital-society.html ├ DOI: 10.5117/9789048562718_intro ├ Part of URL: aup.nl ├ Part of URI: library.oapen.org ├ Part of ISBN: 978-90-4856-271-8 ├ Part of e-ISBN: 978-90-4856-272-5 ├ Part of e-ISBN: 978-90-4857-140-6 ├ Part of URL: aup.nl ├ Funded by Grant №: SPI.2021.001 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	Introduction: Governing the Digital Society	2025-05-20	📄 📗Edited Book Editorial	🔓Open Access
📌	aup.nl ├ DOI: 10.5117/9789048562718 ├ URI: library.oapen.org ├ ISBN: 978-90-4856-271-8 ├ e-ISBN: 978-90-4856-272-5 ├ e-ISBN: 978-90-4857-140-6 ├ Part of URL: aup.nl └ Funded by Grant №: SPI.2021.001	Governing the Digital Society	2025-05-20	📗Edited Book	🔓Open Access
↪	spir.aoir.org ├ DOI: 10.5210/spir.v2024i0.14088 └ Part of e-ISSN: 2162-3317	The Political Economy of AI as Platform [Conference Panel]	2025-01-02	📄 🔍Conference Proceeding	🔓Open Access
↪	spir.aoir.org ├ DOI: 10.5210/spir.v2024i0.14099 ├ Part of e-ISSN: 2162-3317 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	Exploring Appification [Conference Panel]	2025-01-02	📄 🔍Conference Proceeding	🔓Open Access
📌	platform.html ├ DOI: 10.4324/9781032674612-4 ├ Part of ISBN: 978-1-032-67460-5 ├ Part of ISBN: 978-1-032-67460-9 ├ Part of e-ISBN: 978-1-032-67461-2 ├ Funded by Grant №: SPI.2021.001 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	Platform	2024-11-11	📄 📗Book Section	🔒Closed
	the-nationality-of-apps.html ├ URL: appstudies.org ├ Part of 📗Report (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x └ Part of Series (URL): appstudies.org	The Nationality of Apps?	2024-05-31	📄 📗Editorial Introduction	🌍Public
↪	appstudies.org ├ OSF DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x ├ Part of 📗Report (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/hv34x └ Part of Series (URL): appstudies.org	The Nationality of Apps, ASI Sprint Report Series #1	2024-05-31	📗Sprint Report	🌍Public
	challenges-as-catalysts.html ├ DOI: 10.1007/s00146-024-01927-x ├ Part of ISSN: 1435-5655 ├ Part of e-ISSN: 0951-5666 ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	Challenges as Catalysts	2024-04-17	📄 🔍Research Article	🔓Open Access
↪	bigdatasoc.blogspot.com └ Linked to 📄Article (DOI): 10.1177/20539517241232630	Mapping the Landscape of Cloud AI	2024-03-20	📝Blog Post	🌍Public
📌	big-ai.html ├ DOI: 10.1177/20539517241232630 ├ Part of e-ISSN: 2053-9517 ├ Linked to 🗄Dataset (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/unvc2 ├ Linked to URL: bigdatasoc.blogspot.com ├ Funded by Grant №: SPI.2021.001 ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	Big AI	2024-03-12	📄 🔍Research Article	🔓Open Access
	digital-methods-for-sensory-media-research.html ├ DOI: 10.1177/13548565241226791 ├ Part of URL: journals.sagepub.com ├ Part of ISSN: 1354-8565 ├ Part of e-ISSN: 1748-7382 ├ Linked to ASI Tools: appstudies.org/tools ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	Digital Methods for Sensory Media Research	2024-04-17	📄 🔍Research Article	🔓Open Access
📌	super-appification.html ├ DOI: 10.1177/14614448231223419 ├ Part of ISSN: 1461-4448 ├ Part of e-ISSN: 1461-7315 ├ Linked to 🗄Dataset (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/fetps ├ Funded by Grant №: SPI.2021.001 ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 ├ Funded by Grant №: VI.Veni.191C.048 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	Super-Appification	2024-01-10	📄 🔍Research Article	🔓Open Access
↪	spir.aoir.org ├ DOI: 10.5210/spir.v2023i0.13509 ├ Part of e-ISSN: 2162-3317 ├ Funded by Grant №: SPI.2021.001 ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 ├ Funded by Grant №: VI.Veni.191C.048 └ Version of DOI: 10.1177/14614448231223419	Super-Appification	2023-12-31	📄 🔍Conference Proceeding	🔓Open Access
↪	osf.io/fetps/ ├ DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/fetps ├ Linked to 📄Article (DOI): 10.1177/14614448231223419 ├ Funded by Grant №: SPI.2021.001 ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 └ Funded by Grant №: VI.Veni.191C.048	Global ‘Super-App’ Landscape	2023-06-01	🗄Research Data	🔓Open Access
📌	the-platform-as-ecosystem.html ├ DOI: 10.33540/1284 ├ Linked to 🗄Dataset (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/6cj5x ├ Linked to URL: zotero.org ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	The Platform as Ecosystem	2022-09-16	🎓 📗 🔍Thesis │ 📜📜	🌍Public
↪	wiki.digitalmethods.net	The Evolution of Super Apps	2022-07	📝Web Report	🌍Public
📌	pandemic-platform-governance.html ├ DOI: 10.14763/2021.3.1568 ├ Part of e-ISSN: 2197-6775 ├ Linked to 🗄Dataset (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/wq3dr ├ Linked to 🗄Dataset (URL): archive.org ├ Linked to 🗄Dataset (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/2hbnu ├ Funded by Grant №: ES/V004905/1 ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 ├ Funded by Grant №: 275-45-009 ├ Funded by Grant №: VI.Veni.191C.048 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	Pandemic Platform Governance	2021-08-06	📄 🔍Research Article	🔓Open Access
	apps-and-infrastructures-a-research-agenda.html ├ URL: computationalculture.net ├ Part of URL: computationalculture.net ├ Part of e-ISSN: 2047-2390 ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 ├ Funded by Grant №: 275-45-009 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	Apps and Infrastructures – A Research Agenda	2019-10-21	📄 📗Issue Editorial	🔓Open Access
📌	regramming-the-platform.html ├ URL: computationalculture.net ├ Part of URL: computationalculture.net ├ Part of e-ISSN: 2047-2390 ├ Linked to 🗄Dataset (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/n3mpj ├ Linked to URL: computationalculture.net ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 ├ Funded by Grant №: 275-45-009 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	Regramming the Platform	2019-10-21	📄 🔍Research Article	🔓Open Access
↪	wiki.digitalmethods.net	App (Store) Policy Histories	2019-07	📝Web Report	🌍Public
📌	multi-situated-app-studies.html ├ DOI: 10.1177/2056305119846486 ├ Part of e-ISSN: 2056-3051 ├ Funded by Grant №: 275-45-009 ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	Multi-Situated App Studies	2019-06-06	📄 🔍Research Article	🔓Open Access
↪	wiki.digitalmethods.net └ Linked to 🗄Dataset (OSF DOI): 10.17605/osf.io/t29g8	Apps and Their Stories	2019-01	📝Web Report	🌍Public
	store-interface-package-connection.html ├ DOI: 10.25819/ubsi/7893 ├ URN-NBN: urn:nbn:de:hbz:467-13410 ├ Part of ISSN: 2567-2509 ├ Part of e-ISSN: 2567-2517 ├ Funded by Grant №: 275-45-009 ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 └ Version of DOI: 10.1177/2056305119846486	Store, Interface, Package, Connection	2018-08-30	📄Working Paper	🔓Open Access
↪	wiki.digitalmethods.net └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	App Stores and Their Bias	2018-07	📝Web Report	🌍Public
	apps-and-infrastructures-call-for-abstracts.html ├ URL: computationalculture.net ├ Part of e-ISSN: 2047-2390 ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 ├ Funded by Grant №: 275-45-009 └ Version of URL: computationalculture.net	Apps and Infrastructures [Call for Abstracts]	2018-02-06	📢Call for Abstracts	🌍Public
↪	wiki.digitalmethods.net	Mapping Data-Intensive App Infrastructures	2018-01	📝Web Report	🌍Public
↪	wiki.digitalmethods.net	Methods Maps	2017-06	📝Web Report	🌍Public
↪	wiki.digitalmethods.net	App Stores as Data Infrastructure	2017-01	📝Web Report	🌍Public
	app-support-ecologies.html ├ URL: bit.ly/app-support-ecologies ├ Part of URL: mediacoop.uni-siegen.de ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 ├ Version of URL: computationalculture.net └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	App Support Ecologies	2016-12-08	📃 📊Conference Poster	🌍Public
	app-studies-conference-panel.html ├ DOI: 10.5210/spir.v6i0.8431 ├ Part of e-ISSN: 2162-3317 ├ Funded by Grant №: 262513311 └ Cited by SERP: scholar.google.com	App Studies [Conference Panel]	2016-10-31	📄 🔍Conference Proceeding	🔓Open Access
↪	wiki.digitalmethods.net	Mapping (Secure) Messaging App Ecologies	2016-07	📝Web Report	🌍Public
↪	wiki.digitalmethods.net	Digital Methods for Number Critique	2016-01	📝Web Report	🌍Public

📄 📗Editorial Introduction │ 🌍Public

Appification in the Age of AI (Continued)

By: ✍️F. N. van der Vlist & E. J. T. Weltevrede │ On: 🕓2026, May 29 │ In: 📗Appification in the Age of AI: Exploring Embeddedness, Visibility, and Dependency (ASI Sprint Report Series No. 3), 8–29 │ DOI: 🔗10.17605/osf.io/hv34x

📋 ✍Cite

Table of Contents

Embedded Research Project

Spring Sprint

🖇Attached ⋮