Artem Rodichev is the Founder and CEO of Ex-human, a company focused on building empathetic AI characters for engaging conversations. Before founding Ex-human, Artem was the Head of AI at Replika from 2017 to 2021, where he led the development one of the most popular English-speaking chatbots, growing its user base to 10 million in the U.S.
You spent several years as Head of AI at Replika, building one of the most popular conversational AIs. What inspired you to leave and found Ex-human, and how did your experience at Replika influence your vision for Ex-human?
During my time at Replika, I had the opportunity to help shape a conversational AI that resonated with millions of users, which gave me deep insight into how people connect with technology on an emotional level. As rewarding as it was, I always felt there was more potential for AI beyond what we were building. I saw an opportunity to expand AI’s potential across multiple sectors and use cases.
At Replika, the focus was primarily on creating a companion AI, but I began to envision how conversational AI could be integrated into diverse applications, offering personalized, emotionally intelligent interactions for a wide array of use cases — from entertainment to enterprise. That realization sparked the idea for Ex-Human, where we aim to develop AI technology that not only provides companionship but also powers innovative experiences for businesses and consumers alike.
Ex-Human was born from the desire to push the boundaries of AI even further, making it more adaptive, engaging, and capable of transforming how people interact with digital characters across various industries.
Ex-human uses AI avatars to engage millions of users. Can you explain how your AI avatars are designed to be empathetic and responsive?
We’ve spent a lot of time refining how our AI characters interact with users, ensuring that they’re not just reactive but truly responsive to the emotional tone of the conversation. One way we do this is by training our models on millions of open-domain conversations, allowing them to learn how to engage in a way that feels natural and emotionally aware.
The goal is to make users feel understood and heard. These characters aren’t just programmed to provide answers; they’re designed to foster authentic interactions. They pick up on subtle emotional cues and respond in ways that feel human-like and comforting. That’s why our users spend significant time interacting with them.
Beyond just text, our avatars are capable of multi-modal interactions. They can respond with voice, send contextual images, and even video, which adds a layer of richness and depth to the conversations. This variety of interaction styles helps users feel more immersed in the experience and enables them to build full stories with the AI characters. At the end of the day, we aim to create AI that goes beyond standard interactions, offering users a deeply engaging, emotionally intelligent experience that keeps them returning.
How does the data collected from your B2C platform botify.ai influence the training and development of your AI models?
With millions of users engaging in conversations with a wide variety of characters on our platform, we’re able to collect an enormous amount of real-world interaction data. This helps us understand not only how users communicate, but also what makes those interactions emotionally meaningful.
By analyzing this data, we’re able to fine-tune our models to be more responsive and empathetic. It’s a continuous cycle: user interactions provide insights, allowing us to fine-tune and evolve the AI. This approach allows us to improve the conversational flow, tone, and the overall emotional intelligence of our avatars.
In essence, our B2C platform is a kind of real-time testing ground. The data we collect enables us to constantly evolve and adapt our AI to meet user expectations, and those improvements directly influence how we develop our B2B solutions as well. It’s how we ensure that our AI stays not only cutting-edge but also deeply human in its interactions.
How does Ex-human ensure data privacy and ethical AI practices while using large amounts of user data for training purposes?
Data privacy and ethical AI practices are our top priorities, especially given the amounts of user data we work with. First and foremost, we ensure that all data is anonymized before it’s used for any training or analysis. This means personal identifiers are removed, so the data can’t be traced back to individual users, protecting their privacy throughout the process.
We also have strict data handling protocols in place. Users’ data is never used without their consent, and we’re fully transparent about how the data is collected and utilized. Additionally, we regularly review our practices to stay in line with evolving data protection laws and ethical guidelines.
When it comes to training our AI, we place a strong emphasis on ensuring that our models behave in a responsible and unbiased way. By constantly monitoring and testing our AI, we work to prevent any unintended biases from appearing in our interactions. This combination of privacy safeguards and ethical AI development ensures that we can deliver emotionally intelligent and responsive AI without compromising user trust or security.
Ex-human’s avatars have significantly higher user engagement than platforms like Instagram. What’s the key to achieving such high levels of user interaction?
The key lies in the emotional responsiveness – it is what keeps users coming back and spending more time interacting with our avatars.
Another factor is the level of customization and personalization we offer. Users can create and interact with a wide variety of AI characters, each with its own unique personality and style. Whether it’s chatting with a fictional character or creating a completely customized avatar, users feel more involved and connected to the experience, making it much more engaging than simply scrolling through content on social media platforms.
Additionally, our focus on multimodal interactions, where avatars respond with text, images, audio, and even video, adds to the immersive experience. This makes users feel actively involved in a narrative that adapts and grows with them, rather than passively consuming content. All of these elements together contribute to the higher levels of engagement we see compared to social media platforms.
You’ve formed partnerships with companies like Grindr. How do businesses benefit from integrating Ex-human’s AI, and what measurable results have they seen?
We allow businesses to offer more personalized and engaging user experiences. Our technology enables them to build characters that engage users in thoughtful, natural conversations. For example, in the case of Grindr, we’ve introduced features like an AI wingman that helps users improve their profiles and a virtual companion to practice dating conversations. These features not only make the platform more engaging but also provide practical value to users.
In terms of measurable results, companies have seen improvements in user engagement and retention after integrating our AI solutions. This shows how AI-driven characters can add real value to businesses by creating deeper connections with users.
How does your AI-driven engagement compare to traditional marketing methods in terms of customer retention and conversion?
We are able to offer something far more immersive and personalized. Traditional marketing often focuses on short-term attention grabs or delivering static messages, but our platform is built around continuous experiences—which allows for deeper engagement over time.
What really sets us apart is the level of interaction. On average, users spend over 60 minutes a day with our avatars, and our paying users engage for even longer, exchanging hundreds of messages. The combination of multimodal capabilities creates a much more engaging experience, akin to an AI-powered Netflix, where users become part of the story. This goes beyond what traditional marketing can achieve.
How do you see the future of AI avatars and digital humans transforming industries like customer service, healthcare, or entertainment?
In customer service, they could handle routine queries more efficiently while maintaining a high level of consistency, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex issues. This blend of automation and personalized support can significantly improve response times and overall customer satisfaction.
In healthcare, AI avatars could assist with mental health support, offering companionship or even coaching, particularly in scenarios where human professionals are stretched thin. They could also be used to guide patients through administrative processes, making healthcare more accessible and less intimidating for people who might otherwise avoid seeking help.
In entertainment, the possibilities are even broader. AI avatars can create entirely new types of interactive content, allowing users to engage directly with characters in ways that traditional media can’t offer. Whether it’s a game, a virtual concert, or even digital influencers, AI can generate unique experiences that are tailored to individual preferences, opening up new revenue streams for the industry.
What key lessons have you learned from your transition from Head of AI at Replika to founding and scaling your own company?
A key lesson I’ve learned in the shift is how dramatically the role changes. As an engineer, I could dive deep into technical challenges and focus on problem-solving, but as a founder, the scope expands significantly. Suddenly, you’re not just building technology—you’re also managing teams, working with investors, making strategic decisions, and ensuring the company’s growth on multiple fronts.
The toughest part was moving from a hands-on, technical mindset to one that involves constantly switching between different roles and responsibilities. It’s less about solving one specific problem and more about managing everything simultaneously, all while keeping the overall vision in sight. This broader perspective has been essential for growing Ex-Human and navigating the entrepreneurial landscape.
Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit Ex-human.
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