Hearth Talk
Have a real conversation. Help make AI kinder.
Come in, talk honestly with another person, and give and receive support the way people are meant to. The warmth in those conversations also helps teach AI models how to listen.
Our partners
Hearth Talk works alongside organizations that care about emotional wellbeing and the people we hope to reach. We're always looking to expand our network of partners.
Why we’re doing this
Sometimes you need to talk and there’s no one to turn to. Maybe the people in your life are busy or far away. Maybe you don’t have those people at all. Either way, the feeling is the same, you’re carrying something and you’re carrying it by yourself.
AI could help in those moments, but today’s models are hard to connect with. They return words without warmth, and reaching for one when you’re low can leave you feeling more alone than before.
We think that’s fixable, and we think the fix starts with real human connection.
What we’re building
Hearth Talk brings people together for honest, emotionally supportive conversations, and records them with consent. Those conversations train AI models to read tone, sit with difficulty, and respond like someone who is actually paying attention. They also teach something subtler, the intonation and warmth of a real human voice, so the AI sounds less like a tool and more like someone worth talking to.
That warmth should reach everyone, not just the people a model was built around. So we’re particularly looking for contributors who speak different languages, or who carry different accents, whether across languages or within one. The goal is an AI that can meet a wide range of people and sound just as present and caring with each of them.
We’re not building a replacement for friendship. What we want is for the AI someone reaches in a hard moment to make that moment a little lighter, whether that’s something to lean on until a friend is free, or simply a steady presence when no one else is there.
Where you come in
Taking part means coming in for one real conversation, in person, at a location near you. You and another person talk honestly, the way good friends do. You might share something that’s been weighing on you, or be the steady ear while someone else does. Most of the time, it’s both.
So you don’t just contribute to this, you get something out of it. An hour of being genuinely heard, and the chance to do that for someone else. The warmth in that exchange is exactly what teaches these models to listen, which means a conversation that was good for the two of you also helps build a future where fewer people have to carry the hard things alone.
Now recruiting in Ontario
We’re looking for people in the Ajax area to take part in our first round of conversations, hosted at Ajax Harwood Clinic in Ajax, Ontario.
FAQ
Hearth Talk is an in-person event. You sign up here and find a nearby location to visit, then come in for one honest, emotionally supportive conversation, recorded as audio. You and another person talk, share, and listen. You might bring something real that’s on your mind, or be the listening ear for someone else. The program currently runs in Ontario only.
About an hour, give or take.
No. We’re not looking for performers or professionals. We’re looking for genuine conversations, the kind people have every day.
It becomes part of the data we use to train AI models to be more emotionally intelligent, so they respond with more warmth, presence, and care.
Anyone 18 years of age or older. We especially welcome contributors from a wide range of backgrounds, languages, and accents, since that diversity is exactly what helps the AI connect with more people.