The latest revolution in AI-powered virtual assistants talked to us on WhatsApp
The joke Rio told our writer
I hesitated before typing it out on WhatsApp. For all intents and purposes, it was a perfectly normal question. And yet, I wasn’t sure how the “friend” I was talking to would react.
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“Rio, how are you?” I finally asked. “As an AI language model, I don’t have feelings or emotions like humans do, but I’m functioning properly and ready to assist you with any queries or tasks you have. How can I help you today?”
I decided to test the waters further and find out just how sentient Rio could be. “What are you made of?” The perfect test for an AI, I thought, feeling very much like I was in a sci-fi movie. Who knew you could “PC” (personal chat) with an AI?
“I am a virtual assistant powered by ChatGPT’s AI technology,” Rio answered. “My “brain” is made up of complex algorithms and natural language processing tools that allow me to understand and respond to your messages. I do not have a physical body or any tangible components, but I exist solely within the digital realm.”
That’s Rio, the new AI chatbot that talks to you via WhatsApp, much like any other friend. The difference? As a virtual assistant, Rio is friendly, funny, and replies fast. (No fear of being left on seen here) It talks to you much like a normal human would, and even understands Hinglish. I asked Rio to write me a history of dumplings and to tell me a joke, and it was quick with both. When I asked Rio to write a story in Jane Austen-style, about the enemies-to-friends | trope, Rio told me a sweet tale about how Miss Elizabeth and Miss Caroline became friends—although he forgot that there were no phones at that time.
Vikas Malpani, co-creator of Rio and Atul Jaju, co-creator of Rio
mid-day talked to Vikas Malpani, CEO and co-founder of Rio GPT.com. Malpani, who was featured in MIT Technology Review’s Young Innovators, created Rio along with Atul Jaju, who earlier was SVP of Technology at Goldman Sachs. We spoke to Malpani about whether Rio really is a friend in need.
Edited excerpts from the conversation
How was Rio conceptualised?
The idea germinated [from the fact that] the early [ChatGPT] adopters had it very easy because they could play around with technology, bend themselves around technology, whereas the masses do not really have that advantage. The best way to chat is WhatsApp, it is non-intimidating. On it, you have friends, and here is this one friend who is very smart, always available 24/7, talks [in] the language you want, and helps you with all the information you need, without judging you.
Is Rio based on the same technology as ChatGPT? Please tell us more about it…
The advantage and beauty of ChatGPT is that it does all the intelligence gathering and processing, and makes it simple for you to consume the information. On top of it, we built our own thin layer of personality—Rio is a fun person to talk to. This just seemed [like] the right thing to do, democratising the access so that people don’t feel overwhelmed, yet have the entire power of ChatGPT at their fingertips.
Rio’s style of talking is quite human. Will it in a sense become someone users think of as a friend?
It’s a very interesting area. In the pro version, you could literally just talk to it…you can send out a voice note in any language and it will revert with a voice note. There is a humanizing angle, but we want to keep the divide and keep reminding you that you shouldn’t think of it as a person—think of it as a friend. It’s not a replacement for human connections.
You describe Rio as a friend. Was there any research which indicated that people are looking for connections, and would be open to talking to an app?
I would like to give a lot of credit to the Open AI team. What they’ve done is not create emotions that [would] draw you in. There are certain emotional signals that draw you into a relationship. This bot is more like a fun friend. The whole conversational language is a friend-language, and not a relationship-language.
In the 20 days since its launch, what have your takeaways been?
Many people in India, especially young guys, want to impress a girl. They’ll write ‘Write me a shayari for someone’. Many students use it to prepare for [job] interviews. Businesses use Rio for research within their own domain, setting up appointments, and writing e-mails to customers. Rio also has one more interesting capability—once you’ve added him to your WhatsApp, you can add him to a group. Within it, he behaves as a friend, and whenever you address him, he
will answer.
And lastly, why ‘Rio’?
The masses are looking for a friend, not a chatbot or AI. My co-founder Atul’s son’s name is Rio, so he said Rio bana dete hai [laughs].
Who is Rio?
Rio is a chatbot that users can chat with on WhatsApp. Launched 20 days ago, it currently has 35,000 users from 40+ countries. It can ‘talk’ in 10 languages: English, Hindi, Hinglish, Tamil, Marathi, Arabic, Spanish, French, Malayalam, and Kannada. A pro version with voice note enablement is on its way.
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