Hungryroot CEO Showcases New ‘Every’ App to Nurture Deeper Human Connections in 2023 

Hungryroot CEO Ben McKean has recognised the importance of AI in progressing his healthy grocery delivery service business. However, after diving into the topic, he found that AI can also assist individuals in forging closer bonds with one another and themselves. Thus, he has launched a new app called ‘Every’, an AI-powered tool to improve self-relationships and social connections.

What Is the App ‘Every’? 

Currently set up as a nonprofit app, Every is an iOS app that uses AI technologies to produce “Thought-provoking games” targeted to help people discover themselves. For example, users will begin their journey with a task asking them to choose a photo that best captures the location they want to visit.

The locations range from something simple to a vivid imagination. For instance, you can choose the option of a cobblestoned city street, a natural landscape featuring a river and trees and even a fantastical castle or a remote island. Following up, you will answer personal questions about who you would travel with, what role you would play, what travel advice most applies to you, and so forth.

Once you finish your answers, the app will display how others respond to the same question, which includes users from your uploaded contact list and build human connection from there. Furthermore, the app features motivational content based on user feedback after reading, including movies about pursuing your dreams and creativity.

Boosting Self-Awareness via AI and Games

As mentioned, Every is an app that generates games using advanced language models and technologies from OpenAI and Midjourney. As per the namesake, Hungryroot CEO Ben Mckean hopes to provide games with different themes, such as careers, fun, family ties, spirituality, or philosophy, in the app daily. He also mentioned that Every has an additional tab called ‘Map’ that uses AI to create a map of user qualities based on game scores.

Moreover, as the goal of Every is to increase self-awareness, find common ground, and foster meaningful conversations and deeper connections with other individuals, the app currently offers free software.

Hungryroot founder debuts Every, an AI-powered app for self-reflection and human connection https://t.co/kad2JFgU5b by @sarahintampa

— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) October 5, 2023

According to Hungryroot CEO Ben Mckean’s interview with TechCrunch: “A lot of the mission around this is about facilitating connection with people – one-to-one connection – but it’s also about helping to surface common ground a little more holistically. And so part of the belief is that if you present the same game to every single person, you are able to actually find common ground between two people who may be very different people.”

Also Read: Is Google’s New and Upcoming Gemini AI a Worthy Contender to OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4?

Hungryroot Is Partnering with A Second U Foundation to Nurture Human Connections 

Since the app draws inspiration from a topic or a person, which is the initial input for the AI, Hungryroot is partnering with inspirational leaders for some of the ideas, like Hector Guadalupe, founder of A Second U Foundation, to help the generative AI to generate prompts and create the questions. Hungryroot CEO mentioned that the idea of human connection stemmed during the pandemic, particularly after the COVID pandemic, which led to a world where everyone felt more disconnected than ever.

In his explanation, citing various stats and reports on the loneliness epidemic and connection., he mentioned: “There is a very large number of people who feel disconnected from even people very close to them. Fifty-eight per cent of Americans report feeling like no one in their life knows them well, which is shocking. And 70% of Americans feel that distrust is hurting American society.”

He also mentioned the hardships he faced personally in the workspace as he found how difficult it can be to form connections at work. Thus, he highlighted that Every could progress to helping colleagues at work in the future and nurture bonds with one another.

Concluding Thoughts

While it may seem hypocritical from the Hungryroot CEO to use AI for an app targeted to improve self-relationships and social connections, it is just how the world functions nowadays. Could you imagine your life without your phone connecting you with friends you chat with and celebrities and news you follow? It is the concept of bonding and realising that you are not alone in your views and opinions, which is why Hungryroot developed this app.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Is the Every App Available to Download?

Yes. The app has been available in the store since beta in March, but it launched publicly today on the App Store. It comes as a free download with no in-app purchases. Currently, the app has a perfect 5.0 rating from 11 reviews. 

Is Hungryroot CEO Ben McKean the Sole Developer for the App?

No. The Hungryroot CEO funds the Every app while her cousin Sarah McKean and another woman named Maya Valliath run the app. Moreover, an outsourced firm is in charge of developing the App instead of Ben.

Will the Every App Remain Free?

According to the Hungryroot CEO, the current plan is to run Every as a free app and side project. But if the company succeeds, McKean leaves the door open to turning it into a business with the potential to gain backing from investors.