What you missed on Viola.AI’s first AMA (Ask Me Anything) on 23 Feb 2018
If you missed our first AMA session last Fri, 23 Feb 2018, we got you covered! Here are some of the questions asked by the community and the answers from co-founders Jamie Lee and Violet Lim LIVE on Facebook!
Q: Why should the average Joe buy VIOLA tokens instead of OKCupid credits?
Jamie: If you read our whitepaper, you can see major differences between Viola.AI and other dating apps or online dating. We do not restrict ourselves to just dating. When you buy credits on dating apps; and you find someone, what happens it that those dating credits will expire because you stop using it. But with VIOLA tokens, you can still use it through courtship period, relationship, engagement, and marriage because Viola.AI evolves along with you depends on the relationship status you are in. So that is the major plus point of getting VIOLA tokens over other credits that limit and restrict you to just one segment of your relationship status.
Q: There is another dating ICO that will be having their token sale next month. What’s the difference with Viola.AI and are they your competitors?
Violet: Definitely there are a number of dating ICOs out there in the market, and it’s understandable as dating is a big part of our lives. But Viola.AI is very different than other dating ICOs because we do not just focus on dating, which is just one vertical. Viola.AI is the world’s first smartest love advisor, so she can evolve her role to help users through singlehood, courtship, engagement to marriage. And that’s very important, because in the dating industry, what happens when you do a great job is, your customers get attached and they would just leave you. And if you do a crappy job, users will leave you as well. So we do not want to limit ourselves to just a short, limited customer lifetime value.
The truth is, a deep dark secret of dating industry is that these dating apps or online dating companies sometimes use bots to talk to the users and lure them to pay for subscription. So obviously it’s unethical, but this is the reason why many dating companies go this route. But for us, we always focus on being the most effective dating service, and that’s why we do not just limit ourselves to just one vertical which is dating, but we really want to be there for our customers through their whole relationship journey.
Jamie: Yes, the whole utility of our tokens will be different as well. Other ICOs focus the utility of their tokens for features within the apps. But our tokens can be used to purchase goods and services, content etc. And merchants can even pay for advertising with VIOLA tokens. So our usage is definitely broader than other dating ICO tokens.
Violet: And because our company, Lunch Actually Group, has been in the industry for the past 14 years and we have 10 existing products ranging from offline services, online and even dating apps, users of VIOLA tokens can actually use it on our existing platforms. So they don’t need to wait for the product to be ready, but of course, if they don’t mind waiting, once Viola.AI app is ready, they will be able to use the tokens there.
Q: Where did the inspiration for Viola.AI come from?
Jamie: The idea for Viola.AI has actually been incubated for the past 1.5 years. Actually it was born largely out of frustration, in the sense that all our products, we refuse to go on this slippery slope of doing catfishing and all these to increase our revenue. And to be honest, we feel disadvantaged. Ironically, because we pride ourselves to be an effective dating service, our revenue is actually lower. And that’s why it’s so frustrating, because the industry just refused to change, unless something moves, and new models come. But even though we know the importance of it, at that time, there were limited time and resources that we could dedicate to it.
So when the chance came, to use blockchain and AI, we realized that this actually makes sense and all come in a synergy. And together with ICO, we also opened it to the community to let them decide whether they want Viola.AI to come and make a difference in their lives.
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges so far in the journey of Viola.AI, both in the past, and in the future?
Jamie: The short term challenge is, the questions people always ask us, ‘are you guys just adding blockchain to the project and trying to jump on to the bandwagon”. The answer is no. If you read our whitepaper, you would know that blockchain plays a very important and critical role in Viola.AI, especially in the verification process. With Real-ID Verification, we can solve the major problem of catfishing. Catfishing cases are worth billions, and ironically, online dating market is also worth billions. So when something illegal and something legal is more or less comparable, there is a big problem in the industry. And this is discounting the fact that many dating apps are using catfishing themselves to increase their revenue. So we see the real-ID, powered by blockchain, to be instrumental in solving part of this big problem. Together with the other synergy hat blockchain brings, like allowing us to use Smart Contracts, which builds trustless way of doing business and grow Viola.AI in a way that was not possible before.
Violet: And, for future challenges. Well, now with our business, we have been focusing on Asia market as we have been operating in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia. But with this ICOs, we see very positive response from people all over the world. Our token supporters come from countries like Northern America, India, Europe, US, and all other countries as well. As we do not have physical office there, we of course are looking to work with partners and merchants in those merchants. And we are already in the midst of it, and we are very excited to announce some of them soon and continue to talk to more people.
Jamie: This ICO allows us to build a global community early. Which is great as we will be able to bring this project to a global scale faster as well.
Q: How did you end up in this dating industry? What were you doing before this?
Violet: That’s actually a question that I get asked often, especially when I meet new people in parties and networking events. My background is actually in Law. I read Law at University of Manchester and subsequently, I did my Masters in Personnel Management at the London School of Economics. Jamie and I met when we were studying in Manchester. And my first job was with Citibank as a Management Associate. And that’s what inspired me because many of my colleagues at the time were singles. That surprised me because bankers being bankers, they are very eligible, well-groomed. At the same, I have other group of friends who are in the same age, and they were getting married. I realized, that’s because most of them actually met their other halves during university, and once you sort of ‘missed the boat’, it gets increasingly difficult to date and meet new people. When I came across the concept of lunch dating, I was immediately attracted to the idea because I thought, well, everyone has to eat as well, so why not have lunch with someone you’ve never met and increase your chances of finding someone as well. So that’s how I got into this industry, because I saw a problem, and I found a solution and I really want to help people around me find love.
Jamie: For me, to be honest, when I first bumped into this idea, I would have never thought that I would be in this love and dating industry. But when the idea came up, I was curious, and we actually went out and did our research and did a survey, and the results were positive. So we left our job and we embarked on this new adventure. Turns out, this adventure has lasted for almost 14 years, and it’s an industry that grows on you. And it has to, because it’s not an easy industry to be in. But we stayed through, and we worked on it, we dedicated ourselves to it, and hence, after 14 years, here we are, launching our ICO for our most ambitious project yet, and we are excited about it!
Q: What will be your short and long term plan for Viola.AI?
Jamie: The short term plan is definitely to lay down good foundation for Viola.AI. Our goal is to create the smartest AI that would evolve with you, so the short term aim is to roll out a product that would set a good foundation to deliver that medium and long-term plan. So we will be launching our MVP in May, and every quarter, we will be adding new features to it. And this is very critical to lay down the ground work to power Viola.AI in the future.
Violet: And the long term plan, is of course, the mission of Viola.AI, which is to change the world, one relationship at a time. So when we first started, we know we’ve always wanted to be the most effective dating service, but then, over the years we realized, it’s not enough as we do not want the couples that we have matched with to end up in divorces or break ups. So with Viola.AI who can evolve her role to help singles and couples at every stage of their relationship, we can then, help every person to achieve a fulfilling and lasting relationship.
Q: Why do you think blockchain is the solution to the problems in the dating industry, apart from identity verification?
Jamie: Well, beyond the identity verification, which is essentially, about trust, there is a lot of synergy in the blockchain for Viola.AI. Big part of it, is that we’re trying to build a decentralized marketplace for merchants and users. And to make romance convenient, it’s a very important part of it. So when there is a marketplace, there has to be a trust that whatever you buy or sell, the transaction really happens. And that’s how blockchain can power this marketplace. The other thing is that blockchain powers Smart Contract on Ethereum that gives a promise to the community now. So for example, when someone refers a user to Viola.AI, they will get a commission for life. So if we didn’t build it on the smart contract, 5 or 10 years now, what if we suddenly say, no, we’re not going to give you a commission anymore. We can’t do that, because we have built this on Smart Contract and it can’t be changed. So users will definitely be incentivized to grow Viola.AI as they will certainly get the commission they have been promised. And smart contract also powers the data collection of our AI. Because the more data you collect, the smarter your AI will be. So this way, you also make sure when you contribute good content to Viola.AI, you will be rewarded with VIOLA tokens, which you then can use in the various platforms.
Q: Based on your experience, what do women look out for in a man?
Violet: Again, I do get asked this question asked a lot, especially from different countries. So what I’ve observed after seeing over more than 100,000 dates, is that generally men and women, despite their countries, are looking for the same thing. So, in terms what women look out for in a man… well, unlike what some people would think that women only look out for a man with a lot of money, that’s actually not true. Based on the many surveys that we have conducted in the past 10 years or so, one of the things that always came up is that women are looking for someone who’s confident and can carry themselves well. So men, women like someone who are always striving to be better, someone they can look up to.
Jamie: For me, I go by the hard science of it. Based on research, of course there’s biological reasons, but attraction triggers in a woman is generally broader than a man’s, which sometimes can just be based on physical appearance. Whereas for ladies, they look for confidence, how they carry themselves, social status, how they treat other people, how they dress, how tall they are, etc. Which is actually good for men, because when you lack in one area, you can easily make up for it in other areas to attract the ladies.
Violet: And what we’ve realized is also, women tend to get more chances to a guy. Usually for men, they would already decide whether they want to go on a second date with someone very quickly, usually on the first part of the date already. But women, usually, can give more chances, because like Jamie said, women look for not just a particular trait, but really a number of things. So guys, you do have the entire first date to prove yourself whether you are worthy of a second date.
Q: Can Viola.AI prevent people from lying on their dating profiles?
Jamie: Viola.AI solves one of the biggest problems, which is photo-fraud. What’s happening out there is there are actually 2 victims. One, is the people who have been love-scammed, thinking they are talking to this person that looks like that, but actually the person doesn’t look like that, or the person could even be from another country using a photo that is known to attract a certain type of people, trying to scam them into giving their money. The other victim is the person who have suffered from this, going into a date, and then whoa, the person they’re meeting looks nothing like that.
What Viola.AI does is this, takes a video shot of you, checks against your photo, and check against your social media. If all passes, it will hash that these pictures look like each other onto the blockchain and decentralized part of this data to the mobile. User can then access Viola.AI in this triangular security system. This protects the data, and ensures that if there is a scammer trying to log in using your profile, Viola.AI will recognize that you look nothing like your photos etc and reject you from accessing the profile. Another exciting update in our research & development team, is something that we hope to announce soon that we are working with the government to build an algorithm that studies social behavior. So imagine, instead of filling in a long questionnaire, the system can immediately tell what kind of person you are, based in your social behavior in your social media. So this is an exciting plan in our pipeline that we’re working on.
Q: Thanks Jamie for answering my questions, I’m still not very convinced that blockchain is needed for this project.
Jamie: Blockchain solves the problem of trust. Maybe when I answered your first question, I did not emphasize much on the verification part. So, have everyone heard of the Ashley Madison hack? This is another problem. They got hacked and around 30 million members were exposed to the world. It was quite tragic, some ended in divorces, some in suicide, and most in embarrassment. So if we do not have a strong security system, which we build on Blockchain to strengthen this, and decentralizing it to mobile, and have it all coming together.. Well, there could be a better solution, but this is already a very solid solution. So we beg to differ. We feel that blockchain is important in this project, through the trustless Smart Contract, and our Real-ID verification that verifies the profiles and photos, and even the VIOLA tokens, which is build on the blockchain, which can be traded in the marketplace component and can be used on a trustless basis to be able to be transacted upon. All of these synergy are brought upon by blockchain, so that is our disagreement.
Q: Will Viola token price be fixed? if not, how to juggle the token price for the merchants? If yes, traders will skip the tokens as it is not volatile, how will Viola.AI keep the price competitive or increase overtime?
Jamie: The token is now priced at USD 0.20 which doesn’t account for all the bonuses during pre-sale and upcoming public sale, which actually means the tokens are actually cheaper now. We feel that if we do execute our plans well, if we continue to build a strong community and build a strong product that works and tokens utility that work well.. all of these, will bring the value of the tokens higher. Of course, we can’t guarantee that, but we do believe that as long as people believe this project to be useful to the society, the tokens value will increase.
The second part of it, is that we’re creating what we called a Hedgeless Escrow. If we have a transaction, in which there is limbo stage — when they are waiting for the service to be delivered, we’ll be using another token that is more stable to exchange for this process. This makes the transaction more stable during the transaction period, which is more attractive for the merchants.
What are you planning to do in March beside the Public Sale? Are there any other plans?
Jamie: Yes, in March, we will see the product in the intense part of the development. We will reveal more and post on Github so that people can see what we’re working on. So it’ll be an exciting part in the development, apart from the Public Sale, as well as growing and managing the community. If our token sale goes well and ends in March, then it’s about delivering our promise and making sure that everyone gets their tokens. And then, we will do our publicity campaign to determine who is Viola, what she would look like, her character, and even her name.
What is the toughest challenge you encounter in your ICO journey so far, and how did you overcome it?
Violet: For us, when we’re often asked, oh you’re doing ICO, who is your ICO advisor, which company you are using to help you do this ICO, and when I tell people we are doing it ourselves, people are usually quite shocked. So I think that would be the toughest and most challenging experience when we first started because of the steep learning curve for the entire team. But I would say, I’m very proud of the team who have pulled together to bring Viola.AI to the stage to where it is today, and we are excited even though it was a steep learning curve. Now, we are really happy where the project is right now and with the community behind us, we’re just very excited about the growth of Viola.AI.
How would the AI help singles to find their partners? What will the AI do?
Jamie: Firstly, the AI powers the communication that is natural. We want the AI to be personable, to be friendly and professional. So that is one of the features of the AI to engage in a conversation with the user as if you’re talking to a real person. The other part of it, is the content of the conversation. The AI will learn about this person, who this person is, what this person likes, etc (based on their previous matches and dates feedback) and help with arranging the dates, planning the activities that this person would like more. That are some of the key differences that the AI would make, compared to other dating apps out there.
Violet: And another thing to add to that, is we have a coaching service called Lunch Actually Academy which has helped many singles achieve success in dating through date and image coaching. Because actually, to be with the right one, you first have to be the Right One, and meet the Right One, and ultimately, choose the Right One. And that’s how the Academy was actually born. But despite the wonderful work that our coaches have been doing, it’s all one-to-one, and the impact is not scalable. We feel that there are a lot more singles out there that would benefit from this product. So, with AI, we can learn what the image coaches, our dating coaches have been doing, and we want to be able to provide that sort of services and answers to singles out there. So that’s how we feel that AI can really help us to transform the industry.
Are there any future partnerships plan for Viola.AI?
Violet: Yes definitely. One of the earlier partnership that we have secured is with Matchmaking Institute. So they are a matchmaking school based in New York and it has a great network of more than 3,000 matchmakers and coaches from all around the world. Once Viola.AI is launched, all their matchmakers and coaches will join Viola.AI as experts and even as of right now we are looking at a lot of lifestyle merchants like florists, gifts provider, restaurants and even fashion.
Where would Viola.AI ideally like to be in 5 years?
Jamie: We saw this episode of Black Mirror which there’s this matchmaking AI that can talk, give you advice and even challenge you. We don’t see this happening fully, but there’s an element of the AI that we’re building, in which you can talk to, and connect you to broader community and it’s here to make world a better place, to fight the current downtrend of dating and relationships in which divorces are on the rise.
Violet: For us, we have been really fortunate in our own relationship. But even, with us, being really compatible, we also face some challenges. So we can only imagine for other couples or singles, that they are also facing the same challenges. So that’s why we are so committed and passionate about this project, because we want to help others who have similar problems so that they have the right tools and mindset to overcome those challenges. And we want to provide that with Viola.AI.
What do you enjoy doing during your free time?
Jamie: I enjoy a very non-technical thing, which is playing strategy board game.
Violet: As for me, during my free time, I spend time with the kids. I love being a mother, spending time with them and growing up with them.
Can users recommend matches they know to other users in this platform?
Jamie: It’s not part of the whitepaper, but it’s an intriguing idea. The primary purpose of the AI does not have that feature yet, but it’s not impossible for the future.
Violet: The thing is, Viola.AI is really a people’s project. We are here to serve singles and couples and provide what makes the most sense. So if this is a feature that the community loves, we would definitely be open to adding this to the new feature.
Why does Viola.AI need your own token?
Jamie: If we do not have our own tokens, and use say, ETH.. there is a transaction cost. So the good thing about having our own token on our private chain, is that all these tipping can be done without gas. So that’s why we need our own token.
My question is what are your plans on integrating Viola.AI into your existing business lines, such as offline dating , existing apps that lunchactually group already has?
Jamie: The good thing is that VIOLA token can be used from day 1 when we issue the tokens. Once we distribute the tokens, users can come to our offline office and pay for our offline office. We are building the usage of our token to be used in our online and dating apps as well, like LunchClick. So that’s one of our integration. Another thing is that we’ll be also integrating our AI in our own dating platforms as well.
Violet: We can also use the tokens to incentivize or reward users for good behaviors. So when you use dating apps, you would encounter things like ghosting, etc, so we would like to avoid that and we want to make sure that every user is behaving well and this is another way we can reward them using VIOLA tokens.
