How AI companions can help solve loneliness with Replika’s Eugenia Kuyda | E1758
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.2 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 7 June 2023
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This Week in Startups is presented by:
Crowdbotics. Great ideas can change the world, and Crowdbotics is the fastest way to turn those ideas into code. Get a free scoping session for your next big app idea at crowdbotics.com/twist
The Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub helps all founders build a better startup, at a lower cost, from day one. Startups get up to $150K in Azure credits, access to free OpenAI credits, free dev tools like GitHub, technical advisory, access to mentors and experts, and so much more. There is no funding requirement, and it only takes minutes to join. Sign up today at aka.ms/thisweekinstartups
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Today’s show:
Replika Co-Founder and CEO Eugenia Kuyda breaks down her startup’s origin story and purpose (1:43), the relationships users have with its AI chatbot (10:21), the potential of AI therapists, Replika’s new chatbot Blush, and more! (35:10)
Follow Eugenia: https://twitter.com/ekuyda
Check Out Replika: https://replika.ai/
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Time stamps:
(0:00) Eugenia joins Jason
(1:43) Replika’s origin story
(8:54) Crowdbotics - Get a free scoping session for your next big app idea at crowdbotics.com/twist
(10:21) Replika’s purpose and their current user base
(16:21) Relationships within the app
(20:25) Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub - Apply in 5 minutes for six figures in discounts at http://aka.ms/thisweekinstartups
(21:58) Creating happiness with AI
(26:26) Avoiding addiction
(29:25) Demographics within the AI field
(33:42) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at https://openphone.com/twist
(35:10) Crafting LLMs to envoke thought-provoking questions and AI therapy
(49:53) Replika's new AI chatbot, Blush
(1:01:05) The loneliness crisis and specific cases for using these AIs
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You know how important it is for people to be hurt, to feel hurt, to be able to talk. |
| 0:05.1 | And I think this is what a lot of people that are building chatbots and conversational agents right now don't maybe understand that it's not about |
| 0:12.6 | necessarily what the chatbot says. It's a lot more about allowing for the person to |
| 0:19.2 | you know to say it's what the what the user is going to say. |
| 0:22.6 | Being able to listen, being able to |
| 0:25.4 | create a space where they can be themselves, where they can talk about their own feelings, their own experiences. |
| 0:30.9 | For me, the original goal was very simple. Can we create an AI that will make people happier over time? |
| 0:37.4 | And can we actually measure that? |
| 0:39.0 | This week in startups is brought to you by crowdbotics. Great ideas can change the world. |
| 0:44.7 | And crowdbotics is the fastest way to turn those ideas into code. |
| 0:48.6 | Get a free scoping session for your next big app idea at crowdbotics.com slash twist. |
| 0:55.2 | The Microsoft for Startups founders hub helps all founders build a better startup at a lower cost from day one. |
| 1:02.5 | Startups get up to $150,000 in Azure credits, access to free open AI credits, free dev tools like GitHub, |
| 1:10.9 | technical advisory, access to mentors and experts, and so much more. |
| 1:15.6 | There is no funding requirement and it only takes minutes to join. |
| 1:19.6 | Sign up today at aka.ms slash this week in startups. |
| 1:25.1 | And open phone brings your team's business calls, |
| 1:28.7 | texts, and contacts into one delightful app that works anywhere. |
| 1:33.8 | Get 20% off your first six months at openphone.com slash twist. |
| 1:39.6 | Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the program. |
| 1:45.7 | We have been obsessing about the massive progress in AI for the last couple of months here on the program. |
| 1:52.3 | And we're trying to find every founder doing something interesting and man today's founder is doing |
... |
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