Hume AI creates emotionally intelligent voice interactions with Claude

Hume AI uses Claude to power natural, empathetic voice conversations that help their customers build trust with users in healthcare, customer service, and consumer applications.

Key impact metrics:

• Over 2 million minutes of AI voice conversations completed
• 36% of users choose Claude, higher than any external LLM integrated with Hume’s speech-language foundation model
• 80% reduction in costs and 10% decrease in latency through prompt caching
  

From emotion research to AI innovation

Alan Cowen's journey to founding Hume AI began over a decade ago during his PhD research in Psychology at Berkeley, where he pioneered the use of AI to understand human emotions. Cowen said, "About 15 years ago, people were interested in understanding expressive behavior, voice and facial expression, and were classifying it in a reductive way." His groundbreaking research revealed that traditional approaches missed over 80% of the information present in human expressions.

This work led to collaborations with Google and Facebook's affective computing teams, where Cowen advocated for integrating deeper emotional understanding into AI models. Cowen said, "I was an early advocate within those organizations for building empathy into AI models." Recognizing the need for more comprehensive data and research, he founded Hume AI in 2021 to advance the field of emotionally intelligent AI.

A vision for emotionally intelligent AI

Hume AI was founded to build AI systems optimized for human wellbeing. "We want the AI to understand what frustrates and confuses you, because it understands your voice and not just what you're saying. It can then learn from that and better understand your personal preferences," said Cowen.

Why Claude stands out for voice interactions

After evaluating multiple AI models, Hume chose Claude for its unique combination of capabilities. The decision came down to Claude's vibe and natural conversational abilities. "Claude is very eloquent," said Cowen. "It has a really good personality that people enjoy talking to."

Claude's reliability in following complex prompts was crucial for diverse use cases, while its emotional intelligence excelled at interpreting user expressions. The model's extensive context handling for long conversations and built-in safety features reduced development overhead, making it ideal for powering Hume's voice platform.

Powering EVI: Hume's Voice-to-Voice AI Platform

At the heart of Hume's technology is EVI, their flagship voice-to-voice AI platform. EVI represents a breakthrough in conversational AI, capable of understanding and responding to users with natural, emotionally intelligent voice interactions. The platform can detect nuances in a user's tone of voice and generate responses with appropriate emotional resonance, while supporting a wide range of personalities, accents, and speaking styles.

"By integrating Claude with EVI, we've created something truly special. Claude's natural language capabilities and emotional intelligence complement EVI's voice processing abilities perfectly, enabling fluid, context-aware conversations that feel remarkably human,” said Cowen.

Hume's Claude-powered EVI platform enables compelling use cases:

• Practice sessions for difficult emotional interactions
• Mental health support conversations
• Customer service interactions
• AI tutoring
• Personal digital assistants

Measurable impact for customers

The integration of Claude with EVI has driven remarkable adoption and engagement across Hume's platform. Users have conducted over 1 million distinct conversations totaling nearly 2 million minutes of interaction time, with an average conversation lasting 3 minutes and many extending beyond 30 minutes. Developers have created hundreds of thousands of custom EVI configurations, with Claude models being the most popular choice, commanding 36% of all specified AI model selections.

"Our users say that they love Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and find its personality fits really well with EVI. One customer is using EVI for immersive coaching simulations, helping managers practice delivering feedback to a defensive direct report. They've found Sonnet through EVI adapts to complex personality traits throughout a long conversation,” said Cowen.

The technical benefits have been equally impressive. Prompt caching has helped Hume reduce costs by 80% and decrease latency by 10% or more. Hume encourages their customers to look beyond traditional metrics to measure impact through the lens of user wellbeing. They track not just customer satisfaction but also how interactions affect users’ overall experience over time.

Hume encourages their customers to look beyond traditional metrics to measure impact through the lens of user wellbeing. They track not just customer satisfaction but also how interactions affect users' overall experience over time.

Looking ahead to a voice-first future

Hume envisions a future where voice becomes the primary interface for human-AI interaction, driven by its inherent advantages in speed and emotional expression. Cowen said, "In a few years, voice AI will be omnipresent, serving as the primary interface for human-AI interactions. Voice AIs will have human-level emotional intelligence and indistinguishable voices. They'll speak all languages and be embedded in almost every software product, smartphone, and wearable."

As this future approaches, Hume sees personalization as key to building trust. "People will need their own personal AIs," said Cowen. "From a psychological perspective, it just makes sense for this to have recognizable voices. You recognize this AI as your personal AI based on its voice, and there's a big psychological impact of that." This vision of personal, trusted AI assistants will be crucial as AI-powered interactions become more prevalent in daily life.

The alignment between Hume and Anthropic's core values and long-term vision makes their collaboration powerful. Both are committed to research-driven development and responsible AI prioritizing human wellbeing. "Hume and Anthropic are mission-driven, research-based companies with strong scientific cultures and a long-term focus on AI alignment," said Cowen. Together, we aim to ensure that as voice AI becomes ubiquitous, it optimizes for human wellbeing and builds genuine trust with users.