WEBVTT

00:00:15.500 --> 00:00:19.199
It was late. The apartment felt a little too

00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:22.539
still. I had one of those days that make you

00:00:22.539 --> 00:00:26.059
doubt everything that you're building. Normally,

00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:30.940
I'd call my parents. But they were a half a world

00:00:30.940 --> 00:00:36.899
away. So, half joking, half missing them, I opened

00:00:36.899 --> 00:00:39.679
a note and typed, what would mom and dad say

00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:44.079
right now? That single line became the seed of

00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:47.179
an app. And maybe one of the most personal AI

00:00:47.179 --> 00:00:53.299
projects I've ever made. Welcome back to Data

00:00:53.299 --> 00:00:56.240
and AI with Mukundan. The show where we learn

00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:00.020
AI by building. Today, we're not building another

00:01:00.020 --> 00:01:03.960
data tool. We're building something closer to

00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:07.299
the heart. A little companion that speaks in

00:01:07.299 --> 00:01:11.359
the voice of people who love us. It's called,

00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:15.060
what would mom and dad say? And it started because

00:01:15.060 --> 00:01:20.980
I missed hearing my parents' advice. When life

00:01:20.980 --> 00:01:24.680
gets noisy, the simplest comfort is someone who

00:01:24.680 --> 00:01:28.599
reminds you who you are. For me, that was my

00:01:28.599 --> 00:01:32.760
parents. Mom is empathy, dad is practicality.

00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:36.500
She'd ask how I feel and he'd ask what I'll do

00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:41.159
next. When they left after visiting me, the apartment

00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:46.900
felt weightless. So I thought, could I capture

00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:50.560
a tiny echo of their voices? That was the goal.

00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:54.140
Not to replace them but to hold a small piece

00:01:54.140 --> 00:01:58.140
of their wisdom close, especially on nights like

00:01:58.140 --> 00:02:03.040
that. You don't need code to understand this

00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:06.659
next part. All you need are three plain English

00:02:06.659 --> 00:02:11.039
prompts. Let's look at the first prompt which

00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:14.969
is the parent profile prompt. This tells the

00:02:14.969 --> 00:02:19.469
AI who it's pretending to be. You can write it

00:02:19.469 --> 00:02:23.650
in your notes app. You can say, you are my mom.

00:02:23.969 --> 00:02:27.590
You speak with warmth and reflection. You remind

00:02:27.590 --> 00:02:30.389
me to slow down, to rest, to see the good in

00:02:30.389 --> 00:02:34.069
myself. You often share small stories from childhood

00:02:34.069 --> 00:02:38.129
and end with gentle encouragement. And for dad,

00:02:38.370 --> 00:02:41.710
it could be you are my dad. You're practical,

00:02:41.949 --> 00:02:46.259
calm and funny. You ask guiding questions, focus

00:02:46.259 --> 00:02:49.020
on next steps and always end with a simple plan.

00:02:49.819 --> 00:02:53.060
That's it. That becomes the personality file.

00:02:55.560 --> 00:03:00.199
The emotion prompt. This helps the AI notice

00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:04.139
the feeling before it replies. Say this aloud

00:03:04.139 --> 00:03:09.060
or type it. You can say, first tell me what emotion

00:03:09.060 --> 00:03:15.020
you hear in my message. It can be fear, stress,

00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:23.360
guilt, excitement, or hope. Then respond like

00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:29.599
the parent I chose. It keeps the response anchored

00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:34.419
in empathy. And finally, let's look at the response

00:03:34.419 --> 00:03:37.620
prompt. Finally, the structure that makes it

00:03:37.620 --> 00:03:40.979
feel human. So in your reply, do three things.

00:03:41.629 --> 00:03:45.949
Start by acknowledging what I'm feeling. Share

00:03:45.949 --> 00:03:49.069
a short memory or a piece of advice that fits.

00:03:49.650 --> 00:03:53.789
And end with one encouraging question that helps

00:03:53.789 --> 00:03:58.250
me think forward. That's it. There's no tech

00:03:58.250 --> 00:04:01.590
talk, no formatting, just conversational instructions.

00:04:02.870 --> 00:04:08.310
That's what powers emotional AI. Not code, but

00:04:08.310 --> 00:04:13.360
clarity. Let's look at the part where we are

00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:17.720
trying this for the first time. Now, when I typed,

00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:22.540
I feel like I'm failing at everything. The agent

00:04:22.540 --> 00:04:25.740
which had the mom's voice, it said, My dear,

00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:29.360
remember when you learned to ride a bike? You

00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:33.259
fell so many times, yet you never gave up. This

00:04:33.259 --> 00:04:36.040
is another one of those wobbles before balance.

00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:41.149
And dad's voice said, Alright. What's one thing

00:04:41.149 --> 00:04:44.610
you actually handled well today? Start there.

00:04:45.009 --> 00:04:49.250
Because momentum beats perfection every single

00:04:49.250 --> 00:04:54.310
time. I laughed and cried in the same minute.

00:04:54.790 --> 00:04:57.529
Because, well, it wasn't perfect but it felt

00:04:57.529 --> 00:05:04.610
real enough to heal a little bit. Now, here's

00:05:04.610 --> 00:05:09.639
what building this taught me. Empathy. isn't

00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:13.079
built with algorithms. It's built with intent.

00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:18.060
When you create prompts like these, you're really

00:05:18.060 --> 00:05:22.459
teaching a machine to slow down. You're giving

00:05:22.459 --> 00:05:27.399
it permission to be human -sized, quiet, kind,

00:05:27.620 --> 00:05:32.240
and curious. If you've ever built your own emotional

00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:37.199
AI, keep these plain rules. Always validate first.

00:05:37.980 --> 00:05:43.199
Because people don't need fixing. They need feeling.

00:05:45.300 --> 00:05:51.480
Second, tell a story. Because memory always connects

00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:57.040
faster than logic. And finally, end with a question.

00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:03.860
Because curiosity reopens the mind. That's emotional

00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:09.540
AI in one sentence. Now, let's look at boundaries

00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:12.420
and ethics that I wanted to have while I was

00:06:12.420 --> 00:06:18.379
building this. I needed guardrails. Because every

00:06:18.379 --> 00:06:21.379
session here begins with a line that says, this

00:06:21.379 --> 00:06:25.680
is a reflection tool, not therapy. I'm here to

00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:30.740
help you pause and think, not to diagnose. Because,

00:06:30.740 --> 00:06:34.360
see, it's a reminder that technology can comfort.

00:06:35.660 --> 00:06:38.420
But obviously it's not meant to replace connection.

00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:41.220
Not meant to replace any kind of human connection.

00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:45.139
And of course, it's not meant to replace my own

00:06:45.139 --> 00:06:50.759
parents. It's just an additional tool. And I

00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:53.639
also made sure the messages stay local. That

00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:58.160
is, no uploads, no analytics. Because feelings,

00:06:58.379 --> 00:07:03.899
they are in metrics. Maybe for some people, but

00:07:03.899 --> 00:07:07.399
not for me. Well, if you make your own version,

00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:12.379
promise yourself this. Protect privacy the way

00:07:12.379 --> 00:07:15.259
you'd protect a conversation with your own parents.

00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:22.759
What this really taught me. Building what would

00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:26.699
mom and dad say changed how I think about AI.

00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:32.600
Because we keep thinking, you know, machines.

00:07:33.740 --> 00:07:36.519
should know more about us so that they can give

00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:43.019
better suggestions. But we also do realize that

00:07:43.019 --> 00:07:46.160
when we are providing more data, we keep teaching

00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:50.680
these machines to sound intelligent. Or maybe

00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:54.360
the next leap is teaching them to sound kind.

00:07:56.360 --> 00:08:00.120
AI can't love you. It's not human. Humans love

00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:03.620
or maybe like animals do, right? It's not a living

00:08:03.620 --> 00:08:08.000
thing. It's artificial. But it can remind you

00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:12.220
of the people who do. And sometimes that reminder

00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:16.620
is enough to keep you going. Because empathy

00:08:16.620 --> 00:08:22.699
isn't a feature. It's a design decision. And

00:08:22.699 --> 00:08:26.420
it starts with the words you chose in a prompt.

00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:34.899
Here's my message to you. So tonight, when life

00:08:34.899 --> 00:08:39.200
feels heavy, open a note on your phone. Type

00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:43.519
one of those prompts. Let AI answer like someone

00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:47.139
who cares about you. Not because it's magic.

00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:53.240
Because it's you. Programming kindness back into

00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:57.419
your own world. That's what technology is supposed

00:08:57.419 --> 00:09:02.190
to do. Not replace love. but help you reflect

00:09:02.190 --> 00:09:07.850
it. If you want to try this offline, remember

00:09:07.850 --> 00:09:11.330
these three voice prompts. One is a parent profile

00:09:11.330 --> 00:09:14.250
prompt, where you can describe the person's tone

00:09:14.250 --> 00:09:17.850
and typical phrases. An emotion prompt, where

00:09:17.850 --> 00:09:23.610
you ask the AI to name what it hears first. And

00:09:23.610 --> 00:09:28.220
what feeling it hears first, really. And the

00:09:28.220 --> 00:09:31.240
third response prompt where you ask it to validate,

00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:36.460
tell a short story, and end with one hopeful

00:09:36.460 --> 00:09:40.899
question. That's all you need. No coding, no

00:09:40.899 --> 00:09:48.220
app, just words. And if you've already followed

00:09:48.220 --> 00:09:53.580
me so far, you'd know that I also use Riverside

00:09:53.580 --> 00:09:58.450
.fm, which is one of my partners for... recording

00:09:58.450 --> 00:10:04.649
my podcast it has amazing ai tools helps you

00:10:04.649 --> 00:10:07.389
record your podcast with ease you can distribute

00:10:07.389 --> 00:10:13.529
it to multiple platforms you can create one one

00:10:13.529 --> 00:10:17.370
magical clip you can create tiktok videos from

00:10:17.370 --> 00:10:19.970
it so a lot of things you can do with just one

00:10:19.970 --> 00:10:24.750
one episode so That's a great tool I'd recommend.

00:10:24.950 --> 00:10:27.830
And I'd obviously recommend RSS .com, which is

00:10:27.830 --> 00:10:32.090
my hosting platform for my podcast. This helps

00:10:32.090 --> 00:10:35.350
me to distribute my podcast to multiple platforms,

00:10:35.649 --> 00:10:40.590
including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, obviously,

00:10:40.649 --> 00:10:45.850
but also platforms like TuneIn, Amazon Music,

00:10:46.190 --> 00:10:52.690
Audible, Deezer. and many other platforms like

00:10:52.690 --> 00:10:56.509
this and of course it allows you to publish to

00:10:56.509 --> 00:11:01.450
youtube too don't forget that rss .com has a

00:11:01.450 --> 00:11:06.269
feature to allow you to get paid with just 10

00:11:06.269 --> 00:11:10.490
downloads a month so using what they call as

00:11:10.490 --> 00:11:14.129
a paid feature which is programmatic ad insertion

00:11:14.129 --> 00:11:18.690
and it's done dynamically so inside your podcast

00:11:19.529 --> 00:11:21.649
There'll be ads which are inserted dynamically

00:11:21.649 --> 00:11:27.269
by their program. And you can get paid if someone

00:11:27.269 --> 00:11:30.629
listens to those ads. So that's a great way to

00:11:30.629 --> 00:11:33.049
get paid. And all you need is just 10 downloads

00:11:33.049 --> 00:11:36.389
a month. So I would highly recommend RSS .com

00:11:36.389 --> 00:11:40.809
if you choose to host your platform, host your

00:11:40.809 --> 00:11:52.129
podcast, right? Thanks for listening in. I'm

00:11:52.129 --> 00:11:54.570
Mukundan and this was Data and AI with Mukundan.

00:11:54.830 --> 00:11:55.730
See you next week.