Kelly Corrigan

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas and conversations to spark your curiosity every day.

I'm Kelly Corrigan.

I'm a writer.

I'm a podcaster.

I'm a TED Talker.

And I am taking over for Elise Hu this week for a special series on AI and family life.

A guest curated a session about this topic at TED 2025.

And I'm here now to share these very special talks with you, along with behind-the-scenes recordings and personal insights that shed light on the process of bringing them to life.

So I was listening to another podcast and I heard this fabulous woman named Dr. Alison Darcy.

And I admit I was swayed by her charming Irish accent.

But also she has a very light touch in a very heavy world, which is creating AI products.

therapy for people who probably wouldn't do therapy at all, anywhere, anytime, but nonetheless need support.

And so I wanted to have Allison share everything that her company, which is called WOEBOT, W-O-E-B-O-T, has learned by trying to be in this very soft, intimate place with people when they're struggling.

You know, when I was starting to learn about Wobot and Allison and the work that they'd been doing, my initial reaction was negative.

I was like, oh my God, this is the last thing people need.

People need people.

This is like, I'm on team human.

I want everybody to be connecting with each other way more eyeball to eyeball, heart to heart.

I wanted Allison to go first because I thought that...

As my initial reaction to the whole idea of AI and parenting was kind of like, sure, like they can sort through your schedule stuff, like they can do logistics, but they're not going to get involved in the deeper interactions that help kids come into themselves as adults.