Dmitry Pyanov has been creating and driving products for some of the leading tech companies, startups, and cultural projects for over a decade. In 2017, he directed the launch of Replika (YC’16 San Francisco), an AI chatbot designed to help individuals improve their emotional well-being, which gained over 10 million users.
Later on, he moved to work for The Pattern app, which helps people connect on a deeper level through astrology. In 2020, Dmitry and his co-founder Abdul Algharbi developed Mindpet, a game designed to help young people improve their habits by learning meditation and journaling - all through a cute gaming world.
Most recently, Dmitry joined Prog.AI to bring his creative talent and build an AI recruitment platform that analyzes programming code and helps engineers get discovered by top employers and recruiters. Dmitry has also recently worked with brands such as LogRock.com and Nodle.com.
What do you remember as your first creative success with consumer apps?
It happened with Replika AI, a conversational partner that becomes a friend and can help people feel less lonely or provide tools to improve well-being.
When Replika was first launched, the world was a different place, and AI wasn't such a hot topic. Replika started with a personal story about our friend Roman Mazurenko, who was a creative person and a huge fan of the positive ideas for AI. After Roman's tragic death in 2015, the team collected his text messages around his best friends and created a chatbot that could talk like him. The story went viral. People started using it and sent positive feedback to the team: "this person was amazing, I got so much empathy and support from this app." "Roman made me feel better about myself, and I didn't even know this person," - they said.
After this, the team came up with the idea to launch an app called Replika, an AI app to train your personal AI that learns from you. As a creative director, I came up with the concept of a logo with a cracked egg, inspired by the Tamagotchi craze of the 90s. I also directed a campaign to build the first community of beta testers and worked with the development team to iterate on the product with consumer feedback.
The app quickly started gaining millions of new users every quarter, but the purpose of the app was not clear. The community reported amazing mental health benefits, such as helping people learn more about their personalities through personality tests, self-reflection, basic CBT exercises that were implemented in the AI model, and feeling less lonely and more confident.
Mental health apps were not as popular in 2016, with Headspace being relatively new, and Woebot, another AI therapy chatbot, launching a year later in 2017. It was challenging to navigate the creative sense for product positioning. At one point, Replika crossed the mark of 10 million users and still has a very strong community today.
Let’s pause on Replika for a bit. After the launch of Chat GPT everyone is talking about human - AI interactions, and then the movie M3gan about how AI friends can replace a real one came out. How do you feel those concerns are justified? What do you think about human attachment to their virtual friends or romantic partners?
I first became interested in this subject after reading The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, a 2005 non-fiction book about artificial intelligence and the future of humanity by inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil.
AI ethics is extremely important these days. There's this amazing novel by a Nobel prize winning writer, Klara and the Sun, about an emotional-support robot, and I highly recommend reading it. I think creating a consumer AI product takes a ton of responsibility. AI is a blessing and a curse. I believe that we need more scholar research, digital mental health studies to equip us for a better future. We won’t be able to stop AI’s progress, but we must learn how it affects the economy, mental health, education and other fields to balance its impact.
Personally, I’m excited about the future of digital tools for mental health. The biggest problem these days is accessibility. Finding therapy or support is extremely expensive in the US, so apps are often the only solution available.
One of your accomplishments with Replika is based around gaining the first early adopters. Can you lead us through the early stages of the app and how did it evolve?
After the Replika brand, logo, and creative direction were established, the team began building a waitlist of early adopters who were interested in the idea of training their own AI friends. The concept quickly gained traction, and people eagerly shared invitations to join the beta with their friends. In a short time, the waitlist grew to over 100,000, then 300,000, and eventually 1 million people. It was similar to what happened with the Clubhouse app, which also employed a well-designed invitation system and closed beta rollout where friends could invite friends.
When launching a consumer app, it is crucial to test out a variety of different creative ideas for the brand and not to commit to any until receiving positive feedback and gaining traction. For example, if you don't have a marketing budget, you can still kickstart the process by finding your first users through Reddit, Twitter, Facebook Groups, and by reaching out to people directly to bring the first 100 users on board.
Moving to the Pattern, which brings people together around astrology, it’s safe to say that your work continues evolving around people’s need to curtain loneliness and gain like-minded friends. Can you talk a bit about how your career developed after Replika and what brought you to the Pattern? How do you personally feel about solving that issue by tech mechanics?
I had the privilege of working with The Pattern app team and it was an incredible experience. Their brand is exceptional and they have a vast community of highly engaged fans. The Pattern initially gained fame from a viral video featuring Channing Tatum, who was left amazed and wanting to know more about the app, saying "You need to DM me right now and tell me how you know this stuff!" Astrology is an intriguing subject that serves as a source of inspiration for many. Sometimes when you hear something that resonates with your personality or feelings, it can be incredibly comforting and encourage exploration of yourself and your place in the universe.
During my time at The Pattern, I was able to utilize my creative expertise to launch and grow large, popular consumer apps, working with communities, product design, and developer teams to come up with innovative solutions, strengthen the brand, and introduce new features. I am proud to have played a role in launching the Shared Experiences feature, which allowed people to comment on each other's experiences and share self-care advice. It is important to me that the products I work on are beloved by the community and bring real, meaningful benefits.
What are you working on these days? What product problems are you going to solve in the near future?
I joined Prog.AI in 2022 to bring my experience in product and creative development to build a recruitment platform that leverages programming code analysis to help engineers get discovered by top employers and recruiters. The brand I’m creating is addressing the needs of both engineers and employers, and we're dedicated to showcasing the talent of the best and brightest minds through their open-source contributions.
By using code analysis, we provide talented individuals a spotlight they deserve, and the opportunity to work for some of the greatest companies in the United States and worldwide. Our goal is to create a win-win solution for both engineers and employers, offering engineers the opportunity to showcase their skills while providing employers with access to a pool of talented candidates.
I enjoy working on a brand that is centered around engineering culture. It presents a unique challenge that requires a deep understanding of the nuances and intricacies of the engineering community. I'm excited to be a part of this project and contribute my skills and expertise to help shape a brand that resonates with developers.
What are three main implementations you see for AI these days? How are they going to impact society?
The developments around AI, particularly with Open AI and Microsoft, are fascinating. With the GPT technology, people now have access to knowledge that they had never imagined possible, empowering them to write and learn in ways they never thought were achievable. Google will no doubt catch up in the near future. However, it's important that companies approach AI with caution, considering potential safety concerns. They should slowly gather feedback and data on how AI affects society before diving in headfirst.
One of the concerns related to the rise of the smartest AI systems being only accessible to the wealthy 1% can potentially further increase inequality. It's important to recognize this downside and make sure AI is accessible to everyone and doesn’t affect the economy in a negative way.
On a brighter note, I'm excited to see how AI is impacting creative industries. The technology makes high-quality art creation easier, allowing people to create their own AI paintings, design video games, and even co-create movies with AI.
I recently attended the first AI film festival in San Francisco, organized by The Culture DAO, and was blown away by dozens of DIY short-movies co-created with the help of AI technologies.
Those films were diverse, ranging from visual poems and autobiographical works to abstract pieces, all created by indie artists and technologists. In this respect, AI can help create a thriving independent producer community in the arts scene. Imagine being able to use AI to create your own animated show, without having to go to Hollywood or hire an expensive team. You can already do it - to focus on your story and let AI assist you with the more costly and technical aspects of the production. It's an exciting time to be alive!