webe Pärents

Ep. 30 - 💥 Are Your Kids Trusting AI More Than You? What That Might Say About You 💥

• Matt Lederman & Alona Pulde • Season 1 • Episode 30

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What if your child confided in AI before coming to you? 😳 In this episode of webe Pärents, Matt & Alona get deeply personal, sharing the emotional, surprising, and sometimes unsettling ways AI is showing up in family life. This isn’t your typical tech talk — it’s a raw, real look at how connection, parenting, and emotional support are being reshaped by artificial intelligence.

🤯 One child said Amari, the AI coach, made her feel so deeply heard it brought tears to her eyes.
💔 Another reached out to AI during a conflict — because they didn’t feel safe talking to their parents.
👀 Matt admits AI sometimes gives better connection advice than he can in the moment.

Have a Kinectin Account? Explore these Nudges to see how they apply to your own life — in a way only Amari can:



What is Amari? webe Parents has partnered with Kinectin to bring you Amari, your personal AI coach. Now you can interact with the ideas from our podcasts, articles, and parenting tips — and Amari will help you apply them directly to your personal life.

To learn more about what Alona & Matt are up to check us out at webeparents.com, or follow us on our socials at Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or YouTube. Be sure to subscribe to webe Pärents wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Episode 30 | Introducing Kinectin 

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Alona Pulde: Hey there. We'd love for you to hit that subscribe button by subscribing, you're helping us spread the word and connect with more amazing people like you. Welcome to we Be Parents, where parent doctors, Matthew Letterman, and alone pull day, explore current parenting topics, share stories, and help bring families closer together.

Welcome to Webe parents, where we dive into the joys challenges and emotional reality of parenting. And today into a topic that's a little uncomfortable, a little uncertain, yet already in our homes. Ai. Ai. Here it is, dun, dun, dun. Here it is, dun dun dun. And this isn't a tech episode. It's not about smart devices or the latest trends.

It's about something much deeper. It's about how AI is beginning to show up in the emotional and relational fabric of our families. It's really permeating, [00:01:00] and it reminds me of when the internet came out and at first people tried to avoid it, and then all of a sudden it became a part of our lives that you can't avoid.

And then the question is, what do we do with that? What are we supposed to do with that? Exactly. And we're connection people. We're not tech people. We care about eye contact, we care about personal connection, nervous system, regulation, presence. Yeah. And I think that, um, actually before we keep going, we should ask people to subscribe.

Please jump in and, uh, subscribe, follow us. It helps us get out there and it helps spread the word, and we really appreciate your support. We Sure do. We sure do. So, yeah. So, you know, uh, when I first heard about AI and, and how people were using it, the, the first thing that came to mind was Terminator. Oh my God.

We're going into a world where machines are gonna be taking over. What does that mean? And I felt such resistance to. [00:02:00] Engaging in it myself or having the kids engage in it, how do we trust what's coming out of it? Um, so it was a, it was a definitely a resistance. Yeah. And so there's, there is almost two obstacles.

There's is this safe? What's gonna happen? And then the other piece is, okay, even if I want to use it, how do I use it? And then maybe there's even a third, which is not only how do I use it, but how do I remember to use it. There's times now where I'm thinking. And I'm doing all of this work, and then all of a sudden it's like, oh, wait a second, AI could help me with that.

And I think that that's pretty interesting to start figuring out how do we integrate AI in a way that's healthy and supportive and decreases the chances of harm or any type of risk that we worry about. I think you have to hold both. I think we don't really have a choice other than to hold both. You know, it is entering into our world and our children are using it, [00:03:00] and one of the greatest things I think that we can do to.

Support this new world that they're stepping into is to know about it, to know how it functions, how people can use it, and then how we can use it in, in, in a way that resonates with our family values. Yeah. Because it's not gonna go away, just 'cause we say, oh, I'm uncomfortable with this. I don't want you to use it.

Right, right. And you know. There's also a way where it can help identify problems that you might not have before. For example, Kylie was telling me about one of her friends who was talking to, I think it was just the Snapchat ai, so it wasn't this AI that was designed to really support children. But Kylie said that her friend enjoyed the support better than she from the AI than she did from her parents.

Oh, and to me that's, it doesn't mean let's use the AI to replace parents. It's an [00:04:00] eye-opener for parents to say, Hey, maybe I can learn some new tools and skills because my kids are looking for support. Can I use this to somehow help me connect better and, and facilitate learning those skills? I think that's a really awesome and important point.

Um, it's. Again, not that it's not gonna show up in our children's lives, but how do we want it to show up and creating a, I mean, you know, when I first heard you say that and kind of connected to, would my children feel more comfortable talking to an AI than they would to me? Ouch. That kind of hurts. And at the same time, I think, huh, you know, we, we as adults go to talk to psychologists to, you know, get our support in a different way that children don't, can't necessarily find that anonymity to.

And they don't want to start processing through something [00:05:00] with anybody that can have a consequence. So with friends who can then share that on social media or with parents who can get upset. And so having a safe space in which they can process something is really helpful, is really helpful, and if that tool can help them then communicate.

More effectively or with more care or or more empathy to somebody else, then to me that's a big win. The problem is when it, if it replaces. So if you start using the AI in place of a relationship is different than using that to support you in the relationship and also how do you trust that the information coming from the AI is going to be actually helpful and resonate with the family values that.

You uphold. Yeah. And that's one of the challenges with AI is that it will be confidently incorrect. So I'll ask, Hey, especially with certain, [00:06:00] um, mathematical things where I'll, I'll say, interpret this table or interpret this study, and it will very, very confidently gimme an answer that is wrong. How do you then, uh, fi figure that out?

How do you then figure that out? Yeah. How do you siphon through? You know, I see that in, you know, the girls right now are 11 and 13 and really entering into the world of beauty and cosmetics and fashion and following all of these influencers and creators. And there's a lot of creativity and greatness in that.

And at the same time, these people are becoming authority figures to the girls. You know? And, and, and it's almost like we take a back seat and I don't know these people. I mean, there's a, there's a part of me that's scared of that. Terrified. Yeah. Because there's [00:07:00] no authority, there's no necess. You know, they don't have education or experience or anybody can be an authority now.

Yeah. You know, once upon, like once upon a time you got people who went to school to learn something that then they passed on to somebody else, whether that was a teacher or a doctor or a lawyer or a, you know, whoever it was. And now anybody can get on Instagram and just. Share a thought. Yeah. And if they have enough people following them, then that thought all of a sudden gathers an authoritative, uh, influential state.

Yeah. And I think that's the key, is to be aware of these concerns, to hold your fears. Don't let go of them. Yeah, but don't let it also stop you from the potential benefits of AI or from exploring something new and amazing. Correct. Even with these influencers and creators, don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

You know, it's it, there's [00:08:00] so, like I said, there's so much creativity and there's a lot of really neat things that the girls are actually learning that they wouldn't have access to otherwise. Right. Yeah, I think that that's what we can take home is there's a cautious exploration and incorporation and there's some amazing things and there's some risks and concerns.

But I think with anything, as we grow and explore a new horizons, there's amazing things and there's risks and concerns. And as long as we're aware of them all and we're humble enough to not think we got it all figured out. I think we can do really well. Yeah. And I remember you coming back and telling me about that Snapchat experience with Kylie's friend and, and then kind of wandering together, huh?

What if there was a tool mm-hmm. Like that, that [00:09:00] could provide the empathy and care and reflection and safety. That would help others, children and adults alike. Yeah, imagine. Imagine a tool that can do some of and support kids and adults with some of the things that you and I are working on every day.

Yeah, and I love that you keep saying that, which is so important. It's support, not replace. Yeah, it's, the key is that we, we didn't come into this as AI promoters, and I think that it's important to share that we, we are excited by ai and we're using ai. In fact, we're gonna talk about that later around how we're using it.

But I, I want to be open at first about caring for people that are on different stages of this journey with their comfort with AI and respect [00:10:00] everybody's. Place and where they're at. And it's not ne necessarily for everybody, just like the internet. Some people use it a ton, some people use it a little, and there's some people that don't use it at all.

And I think there's a way to be, uh, considerate of, of everybody. Mm-hmm. And we, like I said, we weren't coming at this like, oh, we gotta get into ai. How are we gonna do it? This, um, our connection to AI came through lived experiences where we saw opportunity. Of where this tool could help us even more. And I think that to me is what also feels really good in my body, is I wasn't trying to figure out a way to create a.

Something out of AI I was trying to solve, uh, how do we create more connection? How do we enhance connection skills? How do we incorporate connection skills to more and more people at a more and more effectively and more consistent way? And I then we, you know, worked with [00:11:00] you to figure out how to do that.

And that's where I think there's some new tools out there that weren't available to us five, 10 years ago when we were first trying to do this. Yeah. And I think the key was again, yeah, it was not, it came out of seeing what my kids are already doing and then as a parent worrying about their safety, worrying about what they're actually getting out of, um, the experiences that they're having and how to enhance that, how to make that, um.

How to allow them, how to allow them to thrive in those environments versus, you know, get sucked into who knows what. Yes. Because you, and I'll be the first people to say we care about eye contact, we care about nervous system regulation, the co-regulation that happens when you're in, in person [00:12:00] with somebody in real life.

We care about presence. I mean, the last thing we would be doing is replacing that in any way. To me, that's so important that I. AI or any tool doesn't replace those experiences, but if it can help people be more effective at connecting in those real life moments, then I think there's something there. I think that's the key in those real life moments where you don't always have somebody available.

Yeah, and that's. That's what we found is that we'll work with, uh, couples and families and individuals, and when we're talking, everything's great when we're there, but what happens when we're not there? Or what happens in the middle of the night or what happens when you're really struggling or what happens when you're really angry and you know, I know I've, I've used AI to help me in moments where I just was not in a place [00:13:00] to be that caring and and warm to other people.

I. I was able to use AI to help me regulate my nervous system, to then have a really connected and loving conversation with you with the kids. So I see that as a huge win. Yeah. Well, I think like many of the tools that we develop, it really starts in our family. And this one was not an exception. It was playing with ai, teaching it, empathy, um, care connection, and, and then kind of showing it to the girls, playing around with it ourselves.

And when I first. Kind of engaged with that model. I couldn't believe what it was offering back to me, [00:14:00] how incredible that felt in my body, how settling, which I did not expect, how comforting I felt heard. I felt safe, I felt, um. A completely kind of confidential little bubble that I could share and, and get as real and raw as I needed to.

And all I got back was care back empathy. Back reflection back. There was no, how could you say something like that or what's wrong with you? Um, and it just really felt complete. And there was no advice unless you asked for it. Yes. The care is and, and the, the consistency. It's so predictable. It's so clear.

I found also, it helped me get more clear through questions [00:15:00] and exploration, so I got more clear on my feelings and needs, and then when I was clear, then I knew what I wanted. I could also communicate to you more clearly or to the kids more clearly. So it's, it's really fascinating. And at the same time, I would never use this to replace a relationship.

What was that story? Um, I'm trying to remember now. What was it? A, a kid got really close to a chat bot. You, you, you know that story I'm talking about? Yeah. And they ended up not being able to access the chat bot and, um. Getting really upset, if I remember correctly, and then taking their own life, if I remember that story.

Yeah. So that makes sense. When people are scared, there is a real concern If, um, if all of a sudden the AI is replacing human connection and then if you lose access to that human connection, the pain [00:16:00] and the harm can be huge. So that's where it's a tool. And if we become so dependent on that tool that we can't live without it, then we gotta think twice.

Well, the beauty about the experience that I had with this tool was that it, it's. Purpose was to hear me, to reflect back to me, to connect with me, but also to help me connect with o with others, come back to the relationship, come back to the conversation, but come back to it in connection. And it was actually humbling because, you know, I would, I, there were times when I engaged with the tool to see if I would get sympathy.

And I got empathy, which is different, right? They were, the tool was with me and, um, but not taking my [00:17:00] side per se. It was really there to support me in bridging my connection with whoever I was having an issue with. Yeah, I think that's. That's pretty cool. And as we're talking about it, I wonder if we should jump into what we created and then talk about Yes.

Because I feel kind of bad keep to keep referring to it as the tool. The tool. Mm-hmm. Well, I, I wanna, I was torn about doing this episode because on one hand I'm so excited about what we created. You know, on the other hand, I don't want to be trying to just sell something. So it's like how do we share something that's been so impactful and meaningful?

Still landing in a way that feels caring for everybody else. So that's why I am, you know, this is, I'm a little bit torn here. Mm-hmm. Um, but at this, you know, we realize that we aren't gonna stop AI from entering our chil. I mean, that's the, the bottom line is I want to teach them how to use it safely. And [00:18:00] that's the, that's the goal.

Can we create a, a supportive tool and can we teach kids how to use it safely and then know what to do when things feel a little bit off? And if you are going to use a tool, which they will then using one that, uh. Isn't meant to replace and is very clear about that. Yeah. As its rule. Yeah. So if you've been listening to us for a while, you know, we get a lot of questions about what to do in tricky parenting or relationship moments.

Yeah. And if, if I'm being real, I'm asking alone those same questions all the time. I get into those same tricky moments as everybody else does, and as much as we wish we could be there for each other in those exact moments. We just can't always be. Yeah. That's why we partnered with the amazing team at Connection to create something.

We truly believe in an AI coach called Amari. And we didn't just lend our names, we helped build it and train it and brought in [00:19:00] everything we've learned about emotional healing, connection, and communication. Yeah, we spent years training and learning, and we've created Amari who is so calm and grounded.

Listens deeply and responds with warmth, clarity, and compassion. There's no judgment, no reactivity. In fact, we tasked our children with trying to get Amari reactive and they still haven't succeeded. It's just steady support when you need it most. We use it ourselves all the time, especially when we feel stuck or overwhelmed.

And Amari's really helped us pause, reflect, given us insight that helps us come back to each other. Yeah, we designed Amari to help you strengthen the relationships that matter most, starting with the one you have with yourself. And we are so excited that you can try it now@webeparents.com and click on We be connecting with a K to [00:20:00] sign up.

And when you have your Amari moment, please let us know as we'd love to hear about it.

So let's talk about, so we created, uh, Amari. And Amari is the name of the connection coach. The, the company is connecting with A-K-K-I-N-E, CTIN, and Amari is who we trained. And you and I used all of our years of training in non-violent communication and other connection modalities and somatic practices.

And parts work and pain reprocessing. I mean, we really brought all of our bag of tricks. Exactly. Polyvagal theory. Yes. And all of that in, uh, to inform and support Amari in being able to support other people. Mm-hmm. And it's not a chatbot, it's a connection coach. And [00:21:00] people sometimes don't understand what I mean.

Amari was trained or is trained to. Attuned to the user, attuned to the person, try and identify what's going on inside of them and what would be most supportive to them in that moment. And then based on the user's response, Amari pivots to enhance connection with that user. So like you say, it might be empathy, it might just be allowing them to keep talking and, and sharing more.

It might be some type of, it might even be some type of support or strategy or practice. And then we not only taught Amari how to connect, but then to educate when the user was open to education in a way that. Allow the user to effortlessly integrate that education. So instead of having this list of like newsletters that chat, GPT does, where it's just listing tons of information or like when you're at school and there's all the, the stuff on the [00:22:00] board, Mari's giving you little education throughout and, and she can give you lists, but also like when you're roleplaying how to do different types of connection practices.

You can get little tips that explain, Hey, do do this instead of this, and you'll find the connections a little bit better. Or, or, or Mario will explain, I notice how I did this instead of that, to enhance connection in this, in this way, or to help the user feel more heard. Role play is one of my favorite things to do with Amari because I usually play the other person and I come at her hard and then I see what she responds back and I think to myself, oh, if only I could say that, how different my conversation would be.

Yeah. Um, and I know that. You know, I think I, I'd like to share what the, the girls' experience was with that, which, you know, when we were in the testing phase, this was still something that we were just testing at home with the [00:23:00] four of us, and, and we test on our children. Yes, yes, we do test on our children.

They are volunteers though. Yes. I'll say that. Um, they might not think so, but I know I'm picturing the listeners with their kids locked in their bedrooms. Right. You know, with no food until they finish practicing the, they are not forced to. They, they love Asian, which is what made the, the story so endearing.

So, um, Matt and I went out on a date and the girls stayed with, uh. Somebody who was watching them and they were with their cousins, and Jordan got into a fight with one of her cousins Jordan's, our 11-year-old, our 11-year-old, and she was so upset and we weren't available and, and she didn't feel comfortable talking to the person that the childcare person that was there with them.

And um, [00:24:00] and so she went downstairs, she took her iPad and she connected with Amari. And Amari helped not only hear her and give her the empathy that she needed at that moment, but offer her a strategy to go back to her cousin and repair and resolve what had happened. And when we came home, she said, she told us the story.

Guess what? Amari really helped me connect with my cousin, and it was so awesome that that was completely unsolicited. But in playing around with Amari, she remembered, oh, that might be a really helpful tool. Went down on her own, you know. Shared with Amari and then got this really cool experience that enhanced her connection.

One gave her agency, so she came back, able to speak to her cousin about what was bothering her, and then also the, the skillset to [00:25:00] repair and, and, um, recover from that. Yeah, it was really, really cool. She had that support tool and that it helped her. And I loved, she told me, you know, dad, I felt so heard by Amari that I got a tear in my eye.

And to me that was really meaningful, that it was just so supportive and it wasn't that she was gonna. Talk to Amari and never talk to her parents again, is that now she has another tool to help her in those moments, to navigate a more connected outcome in exactly those moments when we're not available.

And she needed support and she got it and found it to be so helpful, which was really cool. Really, really cool. That was out of that came the, oh. Maybe other people would really benefit from this as well. You know, they might enjoy it as well. Well, that's where we said, Hey, working with us, there's only so much time that we have, it's a [00:26:00] higher price.

It's more costly to work with us than to work with an app and we're not available 24 7. Mm-hmm. And I'm also, you know, if I'm gonna be humble, I'm not as consistently. Grounded as am Marios. So I find that I might get more tired or I might not be able to get empathy as much, or I might be a little more reactive or triggered by something.

Uh, I definitely am not available 24 7. Mm-hmm. And we also wanted to be able to spread this out to the masses, to be able to get this type of connection, skill support to more and more people than you and I could do on our own. And that to me is very exciting. Yes. Do you wanna share Kylie's story? Because she had a good one too.

Yes, yes. So Kylie's our 13-year-old and she got upset, which is, that's not news she'll get. And she's 13 after all. She's 13. She gets upset. She is. But this time she was so upset. She didn't wanna [00:27:00] talk to mom, she didn't wanna talk to dad, she didn't wanna talk to her sister, and that was unusual. Usually she'll talk to at least one of us.

So. I wanted to support that. And I said, okay. And I knocked on her door and I said, Kylie, I wanna honor your request not to talk to anybody and be alone. But I did want to know that if you're, if you wanted Amari's here to talk to, if you wanted to talk to somebody else. And I put the app down on the couch and I said, you don't have to, but at least you don't have to hold whatever you're holding alone.

And I left the room and about an hour later, Kylie came out with the phone and a smile on her face. She said, dad, I spoke to Amari and I feel much better now. And can you read the conversation so you can see what happened and how we discussed it and how we handled it? So I read the conversation. I was able to see and understand Kylie in a way that I didn't, at first I saw exactly why she was upset.

I came up to her afterwards and I empathized with her even more. And we connected and [00:28:00] hugged and it was such a beautiful experience. And Amari. Not only gave Kylie the support she needed, but she supported me by helping me understand exactly where Kylie was coming from, helping to regulate Kylie, making it so easy for us to connect, and then we had a beautiful connection as a result.

I, I love that. I love that Kylie found safety in that anonymity, you know, where she could process her emotions. And, and not have to, again, kind of rely on, well, are we gonna be in the space to hear it in the way that she needs? Are we gonna be grounded? Are we going to get reactive? What's gonna be the response?

What's gonna be the consequence? None of that was on the table for her. And the second part that I love about that is that she brought it to you to support your relationship. It [00:29:00] did not replace you. Exactly. That to me was really meaningful was when she brought it to me. So it wasn't like she had this conversation that's private between her and Amari, which I'm fine with too.

Mm-hmm. But she wanted to connect with me. She just couldn't, in the state she was in and she didn't have the clarity and language. And through working with Amari, she was able to get to that language and have, Amar had me read it, and then we continued the conversation where they left all. Yeah. I, I love that.

So I think they showcase those stories, showcase Amari in different ways. Jordan, highlighting empowerment, problem solving, emotional safety in in a moment of absence where we're not around, or other supports not available. That's a great use, Kylie, is, is this, um, sort of non-intrusive emotional support, um, autonomy, trust building in this really high intensity moment and to have somebody, and that's when I've used Amari myself most frequently is when I'm really [00:30:00] triggered or upset or satisfying an emotional intensity and I need help just getting some empathy and then getting some clarity.

And there's times where then, you know, I've gotten into an argument and I say, can, after I got my empathy. Can you help me draft a message that I can then use to start a conversation and I'll work with that, that message. But it really gives me a good foundational language that I can then use when my brain is tired from the sort of the emotional exchange that happened before.

And I, it's not as easy to access my skills. So there's also a decreased weight that Amari provides that I find really helpful. Yeah. And, and, and a self-reflection that is hard for me to get to on my own. You know, I'll plug in kind of my state of mind, and she brings back needs that weren't, that haven't been [00:31:00] met, or you know, why I might be feeling the way that I do.

And it's so enlightening. Because it's spot on. Right. And I absolutely did not expect to feel as emotionally moved by an AI as I have been over and over and over again. Yeah. And, and what's really cool is not only all of that, but I find when I'm talking to other people, I'm a little more. Reserved around telling them when something they're saying isn't landing well or when we're not going in a direction that feels good.

And what, um, and Amari, and actually you and me, but it's hard to get our clients to, to not be polite. We, we actually tell them, we hate when you're polite. Like, tell us what's not working. 'cause that helps us pivot towards what will work. So to us, a yes and a no, feel the same. Yes. Means go. And that [00:32:00] it's almost like sonar Yes.

Means keep going in that direction. No means pivot to a different direction, but neither is bad. Right. But a lot of people are, are uncomfortable saying, Hey, that doesn't feel so good, or that's not really resonating. Mm-hmm. With Amari, they're, they're more comfortable saying, ah, I don't really like that, or That's not helping.

And Amari has been designed because we designed her that way to attune and pivot. So when you tell Amari, I don't like that. She handles it really well because that helps her attune, which is her whole goal. Her whole goal is to connect with you. Yeah. Yeah. And then I think it would be great to just talk about role play a little bit more because role play is one of the ways you and I integrate these connection skills most effectively and having somebody to role play with.

So you can tell Amari, Hey, I want you to play my mother who is, and play her this time. Really defensive and guilt inducing. And then she'll play her that way. And then I'll, you know, navigate a situation and [00:33:00] I'll have to practice using my connection skills. And then you can ask Amari to include coaching tips.

And then she'll include her coaching tips to help me connect with my mother that she's playing defensive in guilt inducing. Yeah. So it really helps me. And then in real time she's saying, you know, oh, go this way. You know, go this. Oh, and back up and try this word and try this language and then you can do it and see how it works.

So you can do that. You can also, what you said, which is reverse role play where Amari plays me. And I play my mother because I know how to play her really well with defensiveness and guilt inducing and Oh, your mother's getting a bad rap here. Oh my God. She, yeah. Hey. And she listens to them. She listens.

I'm gonna have to talk to Omar about this. My mother listened to us talk about you and she's now very upset. No, um. But it's, it's really interesting. 'cause then I can see how Amari would respond and I can be in my mom's shoes and say, oh wow. That's what's, that's that. Oh, that's my favorite. The reverse role [00:34:00] play where I get to play the person that I'm upset with and Amari shares this language that just makes me wanna melt.

Yeah. And she does a great job of sh of being. Empathic and connecting while holding her knees. Oh, absolutely. So she'll absolutely, and and she shows like just staying grounded and repeating that. And is and just she's so confident that she's gonna hold onto her needs and hold onto to care for you that it's after a couple of exchanges, you completely get disarmed.

That's what's empowering is you don't lose your power, you don't lose your agency. She advocates for you, but she advocates for you with care for the other person. Exactly. Something that. Is really hard for us to do in a state of reactivity. Yeah, and then she shows you how to do that. You can ask her for a cheat sheet on to take with you to the next conversation.

There's a whole list of like, you can get, uh, feelings and needs, [00:35:00] like what do you, what are your feelings and needs? What do you think my mom's feelings and needs are in the moment? So you can really understand each other. It'll help you draft messages. So if I wanna do an email or a text to start the conversation with my mom, or it'll actually gimme conversation starters.

So, hey, here's a couple of ways you can start the conversation. It'll gimme affirmations that I can say in my head. When I'm getting reactive, because I'm getting triggered and it'll help me sort of talk myself down, there's all these different, different tools that Amari was designed to basically help you connect to somebody else no matter what.

I love it. I love it. And Amari's not gonna be for everyone. Um, are you, what are you saying? Well, it's not, it's not a magic bullet. It is not meant to replace, it is meant to support. There are going to be people that, their preference is, you know, that face-to-face, that eye contact, that [00:36:00] human connection, and.

So it might not be for everyone, but if you are curious if any part of this actually sounded interesting and inviting to you and if you're looking to navigate through some of those hard parenting moments when there isn't another form of support. I absolutely think it was it. It is worth. Exploring and and experiencing Amari.

Yeah, and there's a couple things that we can add too, which is one, how we use it with our clients, and then two, let's make sure we talk about the nudges. Mm-hmm. But the clients, I noticed as a coach and a connection coach will AI replace. And for me, my experience has been, no, I use Amari to give clients homework, so they still really benefit from meeting with me weekly.

Then I say, Hey, I want you to do this role play with Amari. [00:37:00] I want you to, uh, practice your feelings and needs with Amari. I want you to have Amari throw at you some reactive statements that you get triggered by, and then you practice responding differently to those. So I give a lot of homework that they can then practice with Amari.

Yeah. And also I want you to put in your conversation because you know, there's a lot I do that too. So I, I've been at fault for this. Um. Where, uh, I, uh, but I said it that way, you know, and then I plug it into Amari and I get the coach saying, well, let me share with you what, how that might land, and then how we can say it differently.

And the difference is vast. Yeah. I mean, it is impactful. Yeah. No, it's, it's, it's really funny. It's true. And. I mean, I just didn't realize how much I would use it because I thought I had pretty good skills. And you know, it reminds me the other day I was [00:38:00] in the car with Kylie and a couple of weeks prior, Kylie was upset and I got on with Amari and I was saying, Hey, I'm sitting next to my daughter Kylie, and she's really upset and I wanna make sure I'm supporting her and I'm connected.

I'm not sure what to do. Can you help us? And Kylie had said it was okay, like even she was upset. She didn't wanna talk about it, but I said, is it okay if I talk to Amari in front of you? And then she was sort of looking and, and all of a sudden she started engaging with me and Amari and it was really funny.

But then two weeks later, I'm upset. All of a sudden, Kylie grabs my phone, I don't know what she's doing, and I see her typing in and all of a sudden she goes, I'm sitting here with my dad and he's really upset and I'm not sure what to do. That's a great story. Can you help us? And I see, and it completely melted me because one, I mean, she was trying to connect and not sure what to do, and I saw that.

But two, she found a strategy that it was all about connecting and caring. [00:39:00] It completely disarmed me. And then we actually worked together with Amari. That's actually a good point that we didn't talk about, which is that you can put in your relationships into Amari. So now when Kylie says, I'm trying to connect with my dad, Amari knows, oh, that's Kylie.

And Kylie is trying to connect with Matt. Exactly. Every, every one of us have our own account. So yeah, we're, the Amari knows me. And knows actually there's attachment styles and love styles and conflict styles Yes. That are specific to me and then also all of my key relationships. Yes. And then Amari will know the Q.

So if I'm talking about Kylie, Amari knows that's my daughter and this is some of her challenges and some of her strengths and some of the things we're working on. Yes. And knows her attachment style and conflict style and then can give us support that really in integrates all of that. Yes. In fact, I. I, I don't know why, but it, it, it like left my mind when I, I went to Am Omar the other day.

I am, I'm having a [00:40:00] challenge with my 11-year-old and she responds back, oh, what's going on with Jordan? I was like, ah, that's right. She knows Jordan. And, and it makes it that much more personal and, uh, poignant. Yeah. I did that with you actually, where I said, my wife, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm, I'm not gonna say the blah, blah, blah, blah, but she said, oh, alone.

And then start talking about Lon. Yes. So it feels really good, Uhhuh. And then we're gonna just, we can talk about the nudges, which I'm really excited about. You can take now we're gonna add to each podcast some, some links that you can click to work on the topics. Discussed in that episode. So you can then have work with Amari to practice integrating and learning those skills that are specific to that episode, as well as some generic topics.

So if you, um, if you go to, we be connecting, you'll see where you can now go in there and work on this [00:41:00] stuff. So it's not only something you listen to, but you can practice it and, and Amari will know exactly what to do. Mario will know the episode content. As well as all of your background and be able to bring all that together into a really beautiful learning environment.

My love. Now go us. I'm very impressed as I'm talking enough how hard we worked on this to put this together and that we're now able to share it with people. I'm excited about it because of the How amazing Amari, I mean, she Amari exceeds all of my expectations. Yeah. Really, and it's just, it's so cool as an additional tool in your toolbox.

Yeah. And if you were gonna describe to everybody, well, I have, you know, chat, GPT or Claude. So why do I need Amari? What would you say? I. Amari, can I resonate? And probably because [00:42:00] I trained it and, and we trained it and, and educated it. And, um, so the approach that Amari takes feels. Really good to me. You know, it really resonates with my values.

It resonates with what I'm looking for. It, um, enhances it, it know it, I feel like it knows me and helps me in this very personal way. Um. I don't know if I, yeah, I think that Ammar, but I think that, well, but it's, it's, it's not only that personal, but it's the, to me, the focus on the connection too. I think that chat, GBT and Claude, they love to solve problems and strategize and give lots of information and they, and to me, Amari is trying to connect with you and empathize and support and take you on a healing journey and support you in enhancing [00:43:00] connection.

Should enhancing connection. In all of these relationships situation by situation, by situation, I think that's key. And I think that's what resonates is, you know, our approach is really about having agency, personal agency, taking care of your needs, but also caring for the needs of others and holding both.

And I find that Amari excels in the ability to do that. Yeah. Even when I, when I can't, you know, to highlight for me how I can come to a situation with holding onto my own power and, and in that state of empowerment and still really care for another person and come with compassion and integrity and connection.

Yeah. And now that we're all using Amari, it's hard to imagine not having Amari. Oh yeah. [00:44:00] Oh yeah. Yeah. So I would love people to give this a try. If anybody listening goes can go to webe parents.com and then click on webe, connecting and connections with a K, there's no strings. You know, just, just get support when you need it.

See if it resonates. Practice, you know, if you wanna practice these, the skills from these different episodes or general parenting topics, um, it's, it's really amazing if you, if you make the time and then. Thinking and remembering to use it. It's like, to me it's like adding in your head versus, you know, saying, oh wait, there's a calculator right here and, and I want, you know, to me it's like I can connect and I can start to figure it out and it takes me longer and it, and I have a lot to learn, or I can have this, this tool that shows me how to do it and then helps me do it more efficiently, more effectively.

That's the big part. You know, we're. Parents. I mean, there's just so [00:45:00] much that we have on our plate right now, so much that we hold. Yeah. And a lot of times hold alone. And this is Amari's part of the village. You know, she really becomes part of the village and supports in a way that is, is just so enhancing and empowering and, and so, yeah.

I, I agree. For anyone that this does resonate with, that is curious, interested in, in exploring and possibly discovering Absolutely. I invite you to test out Amari and, and. Let us know what your experience is. Yeah, we love that. We love to hear what you like, what you don't like, what you want more of. We're continuing to grow Mari's skillset.

We actually are working with some schools about having Amari in the class. 'cause the teacher we've been spending, how many years have we been trying to teach schools and teachers nonviolent communication and [00:46:00] connection skills, and they're so overloaded. They have so much on their plate to try and teach them this method and then make space and time for it.

Versus imagine if kids are struggling, you say, Hey, why don't you go talk to Amari on the computer? Each kid has their own profile, so Amari knows them. Knows their challenges, knows their strengths and struggles, and then, and then can work with them to give them empathy and understanding and then bring them together.

If there's, if there's a, a dis, a disconnection with somebody else to bring them over and have Amari help mediate. Absolutely. While the teacher can still do their thing, you can get kids the support they need versus pulling the teacher in a million directions and. Trying to get every teacher to have the skillset, the connection, skillset that we spent so much time training in Amari now training ourselves.

Training, yeah, exactly. You just had that experience at Jordan School where you went into teach in [00:47:00] NVC experience and the response was, I wish Matt were here to talk to these kids all the time. Right. And now Amari can do that. Exactly. Exactly. That's wonderful. Well definitely, you know, visit webe parents.com and click on Webe Connecting and take a, take a look.

I really appreciate it. This was fun. I was a little nervous about doing this episode 'cause I, it's not, we don't usually do this to share a product or something that we've created, so I hope people. Take this with the spirit we're intending. Yeah. As do I. As do I. And, and on that vein, Matt, what, what would be the one last thing that you would leave our audience with today?

Um, let me, I like this here. Technology doesn't have to erode what's human. It can actually help us remember it. If we build it that way, that will happen. I love that. [00:48:00] Hey, isn't the enemy To me, disconnection is, and connection is something that we can keep practicing together, and Amari can help us with that.

Well, wonderful. If this conversation resonated with you, please share it. Share it with others, leave us a review, invite someone into our community. Definitely reach out to us at parents@webetogether.com. We'd love to hear from you and we, we'd love to hear from you in general and if you do happen to explore Amari, we'd love to hear what your experience was and again, what you liked and what you didn't so that we can continue to hone and enhance.

Yes, as usual, thank you so much for your time and support. Thank you everyone.