AI Companionship with Replika's Eugenia Kuyda

The Deep End by ODF

Eugenia Kuyda is the founder and CEO of Replika, an AI companion company.

Our conversation today centers around the different use-cases of AI, from task-oriented chatbots to emotionally-supportive AI companionship. We delve into the current state of conversational tech, including how chatbots can become good listeners, and why Replika used a mixture of scripted retrievals and generative AI models for their product. We also talk about the differences between an AI companion, virtual assistant, and chatbots.

We also discussed the past and future of AI and chatbots. Eugenia explains why task-oriented chatbots like a restaurant booking bot she had worked on previously didn’t catch on in the past, and the future she envisions where you can have an AI co-pilot of your life, like Jarvis from Iron Man, and how this can interact with her conception of the metaverse which she calls the “embodied internet”.

This is a great episode for anyone who’s interested in possible futures of how AI can become a part of our lives, not only in helping us do things but in supporting our emotional and social lives.

Hosted by Marshall Kosloff and produced by Jackson Steger