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The company isn’t breaking entirely new ground. The idea of having a chatbot instead of a human is fairly common. As is the idea of taking advantage of it. For example, Manhattan psychologist Becky Kennedy created a parenting counseling company featuring a chatbot named Gigi that was trained on her acumen and knowledge. Kennedy Company Withdrew $34 million last year. So, if you’re an expert, Onix might sound pretty good – imagine a bot with your personality that makes money for you by interacting with thousands of customers without any effort on your part. As the Onix white paper states, “The expert’s knowledge base becomes a capital asset that generates revenue independent of his or her time.”
Onix hopes to eventually have several thousand experts providing versions of themselves. But for now, it starts with a carefully vetted group of 17 people, with a focus on health and wellness. Although most of these experts have impressive professional resumes, they are known as marketers and influencers as well. Some have books or podcasts to promote, or nutritional supplements or medical devices to sell.
One of the platform’s experts, Michael Rich, advises children and their parents on media overuse and its effects. Naturally, his opinions on screen time dominate the chats with his Onix. When I spoke to Rich, he told me that he agreed to transfer his knowledge to Onix because of its privacy protections, and also because of the company’s clear declaration that it does not provide actual medical treatments. “It’s about helping people understand exactly what might be happening to them and how they can continue to seek treatment if they need it,” Rich said. Bennahoum stresses that dealing with a robot representing a pediatrician, for example, is in no way similar to visiting a doctor. “This aims to increase (the user’s) ability to think about any children’s journey they take,” he says. In fact, a disclaimer appears when you log into the system indicating that you are receiving guidance, not medical treatment. However, in a world where countless people treat Claude and ChatGPT like therapists – and many people cannot afford real healthcare – it looks like this warning will be widely ignored.
Another Onix expert, David Rabin, said that while he was originally concerned about the process, Onix’s privacy and content protections addressed his concerns, and he was pleased with what he saw in early conversations between users and his Onix. “I didn’t practice it much, but it was pretty impressive in terms of imitating my genuine interest, empathy and empathetic candor with people,” he said. He added that the system would require careful monitoring. “We always have to be careful because artificial intelligence can go beyond its limits,” he said.
Rabin’s specialty is stress management, and he feels that consulting with his Onix in some cases can calm anxious users, saving them a trip to the emergency room. He’s looking forward to real-life patients using the robot. “When my patients are struggling and can’t reach me, they can go online and access a big part of ‘me’ that is actually able to help them when I’m not able to,” he says. Added benefit: “It’s cheaper than seeing me in person.” Although Rabin did not specify the price of his Onix subscription, he believes it will likely be in the range that Bennahoum envisions – between $100 and $300 per year. This is certainly less expensive than Rabin’s personal fee of $600 per hour.