On a sunny morning in Venice, California, a group of wellness and tech enthusiasts gathered to meditate and celebrate the summer solstice. This meditation class was not led by an experienced spiritual leader, but by an artificial intelligence, which is not so uncommon in LA.
Launched last year, Ogimi is a platform that offers guided meditation sessions built on OpenAI’s ChatGPT GPT-4 technology.
“Ogimi is the first AI-guided meditation coach,” said Ogimi founder David Gull. Decryption in an interview. “What this means is that all meditations on the platform are generated in real time based on that user’s specific needs and personal journey.”
The Ogimi.ai app debuted in beta in November and became generally available in April. Gal said he used Jasper AI to generate the scripts and humans for the narration when the project was initially due to the limitations of text-to-speech technology at the time.
“We created [minimum viable product]This allowed us to test a delivery infrastructure that could handle millions of meditations simultaneously,” Gall said, adding that when higher-quality text-to-speech AI models became available, the team decided to bring them to It added that it has integrated into the platform for public viewing.
Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November, rapid advances in artificial intelligence have alarmed experts and policymakers about the dangers of AI, including its potential negative impacts on society. user happiness. But while experts caution, others want to harness AI to promote peace of mind.
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As Gall explained, Ogimi aims to provide users with one-on-one coaching and guidance that other meditation apps lack or that may require an in-person visit with a meditation coach. increase.
“By harnessing the power of AI, we can bring back the one-on-one attention that everyone deserves to practice meditation,” Gal said. “That’s what we tried to do.”
Ogumi’s experience
After creating an Ogimi account, users can tell the chatbot which problems they face that could benefit from meditation, or let Ogimi randomly select a topic. can. Users can choose the AI voice, the type of music to play, and the duration of the session. There are also options for self-guided meditations and pre-recorded sessions.
I have used this app several times and found it intuitive and easy to navigate. The voices of Arlo, Aria, Ashley C. and Dr. Ford are very well done, but listeners are sure to find their own favorite voices for meditation. My favorite voices were Aria and Ashley C. and Dr. Ford was a little too robotic. Arlo is great for audiobooks, but maybe not for meditation.
I thought the music and background sounds (Natural option) used on this platform were a great choice and suitable for the session. We’re looking forward to the iOS app version of Ogimi, but the desktop version, including the Chrome browser extension, is perfect for when you need a little meditative break from work.
The app has gamified elements that allow users to check their meditation stats and compare the points they receive from using the app with others.
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Ogimi offers both free and paid monthly subscription versions. Free mode has everything a newbie to meditation needs to get started. All session voices are unlocked, but music options and techniques are limited. Where Ogimi really shines is the $9.99/month unlocked “Monk Mode,” which includes all the AI features.
For comparison, Headspace subscriptions start at $12.99 for monthly plans and $69.99 for yearly plans, while Calm’s yearly subscriptions are $69.99.
Operating Ogimi feels a lot like meditation apps like Calm and Headspace, which track meditation streaks. Ogimi’s specialty is getting a personalized response when you tell the AI what problem you want it to address.
Still, the early-stage cause lacks many bells and whistles, including stories, celebrity voices (who is Optimus Prime?), videos, more comprehensive music choices, and mobile apps for iOS and Android. . However, Gull explained that Ogimi aims to provide an affordable and personalized experience first, with plans to include an app in the future.
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The idea of AI replacing human coaches may not be acceptable to some. After all, the threat of AI replacing humans in the workforce, including Hollywood, is a driving force in the ongoing social landscape. American Writers Association strike.
But for Gal, AI should not be seen as a dystopian sci-fi concept, but as an integration of human collective knowledge beyond the constraints of time and quantity.
“We have collected all the knowledge about meditation that has ever been written down and aggregated it in our Meditation Coach. I’m learning from,” he explained.
But Gall acknowledged concerns about AI’s hallucinations and Ogimi’s potential abuse.
“When we tell the AI to generate a meditation, we give it a guide rail,” Gall said, urging the AI to be benign and helpful and generate something that helps the user. said to be instructed. “We are built on top of He OpenAI with tools to flag inappropriate content.”
Ultimately, he’s optimistic about the future of AI, its ability to help improve the effectiveness of wellness coaches, and its use beyond guided meditation.
“AI will greatly improve the efficiency of professionals in all industries, from lawyers to doctors, and increase their effectiveness tenfold,” he said.
