These days you just need some artificial intelligence, which can be delivered through your smartphone. Two of this summer's much buzzed-about apps are Prisma, which turns your photos into what look like paintings, and Artisto, which does the same for videos. Both are available for iOS and Android. Whether the results are true works of art can be debated, but millions of the apps' users are having fun trying to imitate the masters. Prisma uses neural networks and deep learning algorithms to process photos and make them look like art, applying styles such as that of The Scream by Edvard Munch or the pop art of a Roy Lichtenstein.

You've probably heard of Prisma, one of the hottest apps this year. Downloaded more than 50 million times since June and powered by artificial intelligence, it uses filters to transform any photo into a stunning work of art evocative of say, Pablo Picasso or a Renaissance master. It's trending in the App Store: ranked fourth in the free photo and video category behind Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube. But you've probably heard less about the Prisma bot with similar features and the same name, launched less than a month ago on Telegram. It's notable that one of today's most popular mobile apps waited only about a month before launching a bot, and it begs the question: Are bots replacing apps?