Ash, The Mental Health AI Helping People Reconnect with Life (with Daniel Cahn)

Talking to an AI was supposed to make people lonelier. Daniel Cahn set out to build something that could do the opposite. Most people who need mental health support never get it. By Daniel's own figures, the average therapist charged about 174 dollars an hour last year, and in many areas there are roughly 10,000 people for every available one. Ash, built by Slingshot AI, is a free app designed to put personalized mental health support within reach. It runs on a model trained specifically on psychology, and early research points to something Daniel did not expect. Early research suggests that people who use Ash leave the house more often and report about one more close personal connection in their lives over time. In this episode of Lead with AI, Dr. Tamara Nall speaks with Daniel Cahn about why he built an AI for the people the system leaves behind, how Slingshot trains its model in three stages so it knows when to challenge someone and when to stay quiet, and why he measures success by real-world relationships rather than time spent in the app. Daniel also shares why he thinks AI is about to reshape how people find meaning, value, and identity in their lives. Want to try Ash for yourself? Download it free on iOS or Android, or visit talktoash.com. Check out the links below to follow Daniel, connect with the Slingshot AI team, and subscribe to Lead with AI for more conversations with the leaders building the future. Follow or Subscribe to Lead with AI Podcast: Website: https://www.leadwithaipodcast.com Apple Podcasts :https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lead-with-ai/id1802979004 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/01BFepfiNGP9pOrqWpmkud YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@leadwithaipodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leadwithaipodcast TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@leadwithaipodcast X (Twitter): https://www.x.com/leadwithai Follow Dr. Tamara Nall: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamaranall Website: https://www.tamaranall.com Email: Tamara@LeadwithAIPodcast.com Follow Daniel Cahn (Founder & CEO, Slingshot AI): Website: https://slingshotai.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cahnd/ Substack: https://thecahnartist.substack.com/about Podcast: https://thinkingmachinespodcast.com/ Slingshot AI (Ash): Ash: https://www.talktoash.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/slingshotai/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talktoash.official/