Z Potentials | Xiaoyin Qu: From Stanford Dropout to Successful Startup Exit—Now Pioneering Heeyo, an AI Education Tool Backed by OpenAI
Z Potentials invited Xiaoyin Qu, CEO and founder of Heeyo, to give a talk.
What Does the Future of Education Look Like? There’s no doubt—we are at the forefront of an AI-driven transformation. AI is not only reshaping how knowledge is accessed but also igniting children’s curiosity to explore the unknown. This time, we are excited to welcome Xiaoyin Qu, founder of Heeyo AI, to share her entrepreneurial journey.
Xiaoyin was born in Qingdao and pursued her undergraduate studies in the U.S. After graduation, she joined Facebook and Instagram as a product manager. In 2019, at the age of 26, she dropped out of Stanford’s MBA program to found Run The World, which was successfully acquired in 2023.
This year, driven by her deep understanding of education and passion for AI, Xiaoyin embarked on a mission to "Empower 1 billion kids to accomplish their wildest dreams." She believes that every spark of curiosity in a child can be the start of a dream. Through personalized AI learning companions, Heeyo aims to support and guide children aged 3 to 11, helping them learn through play and exploration while fostering curiosity and creativity.
With its innovative vision and strong potential, Heeyo AI has secured backing from leading investors, including OpenAI. This recognition not only fuels Heeyo AI’s growth but also reinforces its promise in the future of AI-driven education.
From Silicon Valley’s culture of innovation to the personalized needs of family education, from the maturity of AI technology to the care for children’s mental well-being, Xiaoyin bridges technology and humanity. In the world of Heeyo AI, every child can discover their own interests and dreams, guided by AI companions who serve as their most loyal mentors and friends.
Let’s step into the world of Heeyo AI and explore its endless possibilities—witnessing how technology empowers the next generation to soar. Welcome to this exclusive interview. Enjoy!
Ever since I was a child, I dreamed of having a smart friend who would always support me—someone who could guide me in anything I was curious about and help me nurture my interests and passions. I wished for a companion like Doraemon, one who could answer any question and teach me anything I wanted to learn. But back then, such a product didn’t exist. Last year, with the advancement of AI technology and our continued exploration, I realized that, at least for this case, AI had matured enough to make this vision a reality.
Our goal is to provide a personalized tutor and companion for children aged 3 to 11 around the world.
The challenge we face is how to align parents’ expectations with children’s individual interests in a way that is engaging for kids. We can achieve this by using characters that children find interesting, such as pandas or friends, as guides to offer personalized, gamified learning experiences that align with both parents’ values and children’s passions.
Every child is unique, with different characteristics and cognitive abilities. To make the product more appealing, we need a vast amount of content and the ability to generate more, while also allowing children to customize the content to suit their preferences.
We have a system specifically designed for children. Its core capabilities come not only from AI technology but also from our team of experts. For example, if a child tells the AI that they want to drink black coffee, the AI would recommend hot chocolate instead, as children should avoid caffeine. While this may seem similar to interactions with adults, it is actually quite different in its approach.
Every spark of curiosity in children could be the starting point of their dreams. Our mission is to capture these moments and help turn them into achievements.
Our goal is to assist, not replace the place of parents. Parents play a crucial role in a child’s development, and we aim to help them better convey family values and fill any gaps in knowledge or skills. We want to offer personalized education, providing children with confidence, unconditional love, and the necessary knowledge and support. This is a goal we deeply value and are committed to achieving.
01 From Qingdao to Silicon Valley: A Product Manager’s Journey to Founding a Startup—Entrepreneurship as a Continuous Process of Trial and Error
ZP: Thank you, Xiaoyin, for joining us today. Could you start by introducing yourself? Feel free to begin with your time in school, key experiences, significant turning points in your life, and any personality traits you’d like to share.
Xiaoyin: I was born and raised in Qingdao, where I finished high school study. For my undergraduate studies, I went to the U.S. to study Computer Science and Economics. I started my entrepreneurial journey in college as a co-founder of Stoooges Education, a study abroad consulting company, which has now become a leader in the industry. At the time, I wanted to pursue a product management role at Facebook, so I decided not to continue with Stoooges Education.
After graduation, I joined Facebook, where I worked as a product manager at both Facebook and Instagram from 2015 to 2018. I was also one of the early product managers at Instagram.
I primarily worked on growth at Instagram. By 2016, Instagram already had several hundred million users, so our focus was on scaling. For example, we explored ways to recommend people you might know, as we knew that following more friends would increase user engagement. We also leveraged Facebook’s existing user base to drive growth through various strategies. Growth was a big part of my role, and it was an exciting time since it was one of the fastest-growing periods for Instagram.
On Facebook, I was mainly engaged in video - related work. The concept of influencers, or online celebrities, was quite novel at that time. Because back then, more traditional video companies like Disney would post videos on Facebook. Facebook had just started to develop its own ecosystem similar to YouTube. So it was a new era. My job at Facebook was to figure out how to help these influencers manage their fans and earn money.
At that time, I was already a senior product manager at Facebook, but I felt a bit tired of it. When the admission notice from Stanford arrived, I decided to go and study there. I also hoped to explore potential startup directions with the help of Stanford's platform. In 2018, I went to Stanford to pursue an MBA, but dropped out after just one year to start my own business. My first company was called Run The World, mainly focusing on online virtual events. Six months after the company was founded, the pandemic broke out. With all offline conferences cancelled, our business grew rapidly. We managed to raise a significant amount of capital, and well - known institutions like a16z invested in us. Later, as the pandemic - related business bonus faded, we sold the company at the end of last year. Now, I'm running a new company, Heeyo AI.
ZP: That’s really interesting. Many of the young entrepreneurs we’ve interviewed started their journeys during their undergraduate years. Do you think this entrepreneurial spirit was something ingrained in you from a young age, or was it something that developed over time?
Xiaoyin: I was born in Shandong, where entrepreneurship wasn’t necessarily ingrained in me—people there tend to prefer government jobs, haha. It was after coming to the U.S. that I was exposed to a different environment and culture. My internship experience in Silicon Valley, in particular, gave me a deeper understanding of the Bay Area’s innovation-driven culture. I think the environment played a huge role in shaping my entrepreneurial mindset. If I had stayed in Shandong, I might not have considered starting a business—back in Qingdao, I probably would have chosen a more traditional career path. But being in the U.S., especially in Silicon Valley, and surrounded by like-minded peers, had a profound impact on me. I’ve always enjoyed thinking and acting independently.
ZP: You mentioned that you founded Run The World in 2019. Could you share more about the journey of starting the company and what the process was like?
Xiaoyin: My mom is a doctor in Qingdao. There was a time when she had the opportunity to attend an international medical conference in the U.S. It was her first time attending such an event abroad, and since she wasn’t very fluent in English, the whole process was quite challenging for her. Our entire family had to step in to help. Despite the difficulties, the conference was incredibly valuable for her—she got to connect with other doctors and discuss medical cases. She wished she could attend every year, but the logistical challenges made it a burden for our family. That’s when I started thinking—what if this conference could be held online? My mom could participate from home without all the hassle. That idea became the starting point for founding my company.
At first, people probably thought the idea was a bit silly and didn’t quite understand the need for online conferences. But less than a month after we launched, the pandemic hit. The day we went live happened to be when other conferences started getting canceled—events like Facebook’s F8 and Google’s developer conference were called off due to the pandemic.We quickly stepped in and offered, “If your conference is getting canceled, come to us—we can host it online so it won’t be canceled.” And just like that, our business took off.
In the early stages, I felt things were going pretty smoothly—we happened to catch the right wave at the right time. I didn’t know much about SaaS or sales at the beginning, but once we launched, the demand was there, and people started reaching out to us. We gradually became more specialized, and while we made some mistakes at first, it was a continuous process of trial and error.
ZP: How did the core team of Heeyo come together?
Xiaoyin: I’m the solo founder of the company. We have an early team that has been with me from the beginning, exploring this project together. My mother-in-law is a well-known children’s book author in the U.S., and my mother is a doctor, so there’s a family tradition of working in fields related to children.
Our core team consists of fewer than ten members, with half of them being experts in the tech field, and the other half focusing on educational content. This includes professionals from various areas related to children, such as children’s authors, children’s literature writers, child psychologists, and pediatric experts. Several specialists guide how our AI should interact with children and help shape the content design. We also have experts who focus on researching the cognitive development of children at different age stages.
02 Heeyo AI: Empowering one billion children to achieve their wildest dreams, making Doraemon a reality
ZP: Could you introduce Heeyo as a product, including its main features and target user group?
Xiaoyin:Heeyo is designed for children aged 3 to 11, and we aim for it to become both a mentor and a companion for every child. When I was a child, I was fascinated by making paper airplanes that could do flips. These special airplanes not only flew, but they could also return. I was really interested in the different shapes and flight patterns of these planes. However, at the time, my parents didn’t know how to guide me, and they weren’t familiar with aerodynamics. My teachers also found my experiments troublesome, thinking I should be more organized. Since my interests weren’t well supported, it felt like I was doing something wrong, and eventually, I gave up.
Since I was young, I always imagined having a smart friend who would support me no matter what I was interested in, guiding me on how to pursue it and helping me nurture my passion. I wished for a companion like Doraemon, one who could answer any question and teach me anything I wanted to learn. But at the time, such a product didn’t exist. Last year, with the development of AI technology and our exploration, I realized that, at least in this case, AI technology had matured enough for us to bring this idea to life.
Our goal is to provide a personalized mentor and companion for children aged 3 to 11 worldwide. The main approach is to foster children’s interests through games and ignite their passion for learning in specific areas.
ZP: I noticed you wrote a phrase on Twitter, “Empower 1 billion kids to accomplish their wildest dreams.” Could you elaborate on what this means?
Xiaoyin: Empowering them to achieve their wildest dreams.
ZP: You’ve emphasized the word “wildest” in this context. Why is that adjective so important?
Xiaoyin: First, I believe that as children, we are all filled with curiosity and wonder about everything around us. We have many wild dreams, like wanting to be a scientist or do something grand. These are very ambitious ideas. But over time, perhaps due to lack of good grades or insufficient support from those around us, these dreams start to lose their wildness.
Second, every child might express an interest in something casually, like saying they are interested in science. But as children, we have the opportunity to teach them more about that subject. For example, if a child is particularly interested in launching rockets, we can teach them about aerodynamics and rocket design. However, sometimes parents might just say, “Rockets are cool,” without using the opportunity to help the child channel their curiosity into deeper knowledge and exploration skills.
ZP: You just mentioned the vision behind founding the company—empowering one billion children to achieve their wildest dreams. From a macro perspective, you have a grand vision. But from a micro perspective, what kind of opportunity do you see?
Xiaoyin: I believe the key lies in personalized education. While we often emphasize personalization, most children’s education today remains largely passive. For instance, when kids watch YouTube videos, they are not actively thinking. In school, they follow a fixed curriculum. However, every child and family is unique—parents have different expectations for their children, and children themselves have unique interests.For example, some Chinese parents may want their children to not only excel academically but also develop a deeper understanding of Chinese culture and become fluent in Mandarin. Others may prioritize religious or family values and hope their children align with those beliefs.
There are also parents, particularly mothers, who may dislike traditional fairy tales about princesses and princes. Instead, they want their children to read stories about figures like Zetian Wu, which convey messages of female empowerment. Every generation has different educational philosophies, and children’s interests evolve constantly. A child might be fascinated by tractors today and something entirely different tomorrow. My husband, for example, was passionate about aerospace from a young age, but his parents didn’t have much knowledge in that field. Though they tried their best to support him, their ability to do so was limited.
This presents a challenge: how do we bridge the gap between parental expectations and a child’s personal interests in a way that the child finds engaging? One approach is using characters they love—such as a panda or a friendly companion—as guides to provide personalized, gamified learning experiences that align with both the parents’ values and the child’s interests.
ZP: What is the overall landscape of the personalized education industry for children?
Xiaoyin: There are some AI chatbots that primarily focus on answering children’s questions, similar to a “100,000 Whys” approach. Some competitors in the market are working on this type of solution—when a child asks, “Why is the sky blue?” The chatbot simply provides an answer. This represents one category of competitors.
Another category of competitors focuses on standardized subject-based teaching, such as English or math. However, these programs are not customized to meet the specific needs of each family and child. For example, if a child is interested in Chinese culture or space exploration, how can we design a curriculum tailored to their specific interests? This is something we emphasize heavily. Other players in the market may not prioritize this as much, as they tend to focus more on standardized courses.
Third, in terms of positioning, our AI companion serves as a mentor. It helps children develop their interests by providing educational games that make learning more engaging. However, from a child’s perspective, interacting with the AI companion feels more like a friendship between equals. It’s not about “I teach you something, and you must listen.” Instead, it’s about creating a joyful experience where children naturally develop curiosity about a subject and are encouraged to explore further. If a child shows a deeper interest in a particular field, our AI companion can adapt and introduce more advanced content based on that interest. That’s our core approach.
ZP: After you came up with this idea, how did you identify user needs? And how did you translate your observations into a product?
Xiaoyin: We initially started as a chatbot AI interacting with children. At the time, we selected 100 children from various regions across the U.S., including elite families in Silicon Valley, single mothers raising three children, and traditional religious families from Alabama. We intentionally chose children from different socioeconomic backgrounds and family environments to understand if they all liked the product. We learned a lot from this process. We discovered that each child has unique traits. For example, some children didn’t like the little tiger character we initially designed, especially African American children, who preferred a Black character. Additionally, we found that children’s cognitive abilities vary greatly. There’s a significant difference between a three-year-old and a five-year-old, let alone the differences among three-year-olds from different families.Through these tests, we gradually realized how important personalized interaction and content are for children. If a child doesn’t like dinosaurs, they won’t be interested in a story about dinosaurs, no matter how engaging. But if they love dinosaurs, any content about them will capture their interest. Based on these observations and tests, we continuously optimized our product to meet the diverse needs and preferences of different children. From the initial concept to its current form, our product has undergone numerous iterations and evolutions to better serve our target user group.
ZP: What are the main iteration directions for the product in the next phase?
Xiaoyin: Since the product launch, we’ve received a lot of user feedback, and we’ve noticed that the experience might still have some rough spots. For example, the previous model had some issues with Chinese pronunciation, particularly with the accuracy of the tones. Just yesterday, we upgraded the Chinese language capabilities. We also added multilingual knowledge because we found that many bilingual families exist—such as those in China learning both English and Chinese, or in the U.S., families learning Spanish and English, or in Canada, families learning French. So, we’ve incorporated this knowledge to meet the needs of different families.
ZP: Is Heeyo primarily targeting the US market?
Xiaoyin: Heeyo currently has users globally, with a PC web version, tablet version, iOS app, and Android app available for users in different countries. In the Chinese market, we have not yet entered the Chinese Apple App Store, but we do have an Android version and a PC web version available for domestic users.
Our content is still primarily targeted at the US market. It is developed based on mainstream American values and the concept of elite education, formulated by a team of American education experts, including those from Harvard. It covers the themes that these education experts believe children should learn. However, our products and services have expanded globally. In the future, we plan to allow parents and children to create their own content and will also collaborate with creators to enrich the product offerings. In this way, Heeyo will not be limited to US - specific content but will become more diversified. In terms of the interactive experience, there are some differences in usage habits among users from different countries. For example, in China, children may use their parents' mobile phones more often rather than tablets. In the United States, approximately 80% of children use tablets. Generally speaking, our products can meet the needs of children worldwide, as we support multiple languages. The main difference between this generation of AI products and the previous generation is that they can support multiple languages simultaneously, no longer being restricted to specific markets.
03 Building child-friendly AI to be a good companion for children and a helpful assistant for parents
ZP: You mentioned earlier that you believe AI technology for Heeyo’s scenarios is relatively mature. What types of AI technologies does Heeyo primarily use?
Xiaoyin: Basically, we’ve used all the underlying technologies you can think of. Since children need sound, images, engaging conversations, and captivating stories, our requirements for logic aren’t as strict as those for enterprise services. We focus more on expressiveness, using all possible technologies, such as text-to-text, text-to-image, and text-to-music generation.
We have a system specifically designed for children. The core capabilities of this system come not only from AI technology but also from our expert team. Our expert team includes child psychologists, educators, and medical professionals who have helped us build a specialized knowledge framework. This framework allows us to interact with children of different age groups. For example, we know how to engage with a three-year-old versus a five-year-old, ensuring that our products and services are both professional and safe. For instance, if a child tells the AI that they want black coffee, the AI would suggest hot chocolate instead, as caffeine is not suitable for children. While this may seem similar to adult interaction, there is actually a significant difference.
So, on the one hand, we must ensure basic safety—such as knowing how to respond if a child tells the AI something harmful, like “I want to kill someone,” which is a fundamental concern. On the other hand, we also need to address many age-appropriate nuances. For example, in the case of wanting black coffee, we have to consider the unique needs of children and ensure that our products and services are both safe and suitable for their age.
ZP: What have been the main technical challenges you’ve encountered, and how have you overcome them?
Xiaoyin: There are indeed challenges. For example, while we’ve developed many interactive storybooks, not all of them achieve perfection. We can’t guarantee that every storybook will meet our expectations. To address this, we’ve hired children’s literature experts to test different genres of storybooks and assess which ones are feasible and which ones aren’t. We have a deep understanding of the accuracy and quality of each genre, and experts evaluate them to determine their applicability. Even in the field of storybooks, we can provide approximate performance ratings based on different classifications and whether they meet the needs.
For us, some features are already good enough, but not all features are suitable for children. We have many features that meet children’s needs, but some are still not perfected. We’re not concerned about whether the models will disrupt our product, as there are various solutions to meet the needs of parents, children, and teachers. We welcome any new technologies, like video generation, even though it’s not fully mature yet, but we will continue to explore it.
ZP: From a product manager’s perspective, are there any features that you particularly want to launch, but the current technology level cannot support?
Xiaoyin: For example, I think animation has great potential. It would be amazing if kids could design characters themselves, like making a panda “whoosh” into the air, or having different animals fly in circles. That would really enhance the experience. But currently, our animation functionality is still quite limited.
Another example is the paper airplane we mentioned earlier. Today, we can guide users on the logic and principles behind it, helping them understand these concepts and answer any questions they might have. However, allowing users to create an online paper airplane and generate videos of it flying however they want is still not feasible with current technology. We hope to achieve something like the “Magic Brush” effect in the future, where users can create various video content with simple drawings or actions. We’ve made progress in drawing, but there’s still a gap in video production technology.
ZP: Heeyo designed a token mechanism. Could you elaborate on it?
Xiaoyin: We will first give users some free coins. Different educational activities or stories will consume different amounts of coins. We offer various educational activities, such as interactive storybooks, puzzles, and more. Some activities may require more coins, while others require fewer. This depends on the creators as well as our pricing or costs. Some content is free, while others require payment. Additionally, users can purchase coins to upgrade or unlock more advanced content, similar to how Roblox’s in-game currency works. However, in our case, the currency is used to purchase educational content, such as interactive storybooks, quizzes, and creative projects. It’s not just for buying equipment or characters; the core of our platform is providing diverse educational content. Purchasing these items is like buying a book or product, but they have educational value.
ZP: What is the North Star metric that you are currently most focused on? How is it performing?
Xiaoyin: We just launched our product, so we are still in the early stage. Recently, we’ve noticed that many users with a game-oriented mindset have started using our product, and we’ve also observed that some parents pose inappropriate questions on behalf of their children to test the AI’s responses. Additionally, there are some non-parent professionals asking questions, which has made our data more complex. Our main focus right now is to gain deeper insights into user experience, identify areas for iteration in the core processes, and determine what aspects users are most interested in.
ZP: Looking ahead to the next few years, what are Heeyo’s main goals?
Xiaoyin:We hope to become a good companion for children and a helpful assistant for parents. On the one hand, we aim to support more personalized educational needs by providing content in various specialized fields. For example, if a child needs an immersive bilingual environment, wants to learn about Chinese culture, or needs to boost their confidence and emotional intelligence, we can collaborate with experts in these fields to offer tailored content. On the other hand, we also aim to help parents better understand their children’s performance and identify their strengths. If we can provide support in this area, it will be incredibly valuable.
ZP: Besides making the product great, what else is equally important?
Xiaoyin:This may vary from company to company. Our previous company mainly targeted enterprise clients, so sales were crucial. But when founding this company, sales might not be the most important, depending on the nature of the business. Now, we’re in the consumer market, and in addition to the product itself, we also have educational experts. Since our product involves children’s education, specialized knowledge is very important. If it were a social product, I might not need to consider educational experts. But now, we also need to consider compliance, which is also very important to us. I think every company may have one or two areas that are just as important as the product, and the key is to figure out which aspects matter most. While I can’t guarantee we have everything figured out, at least I know that compliance and education are extremely important to us.
ZP: What exactly do you mean by the compliance you mentioned?
Xiaoyin: In the U.S., there are strict requirements for children’s privacy protection. We need to ensure compliance, for example, with how we handle children’s voice data, which is regulated. For us, it’s not just about compliance but also gaining parents’ trust, which is equally important. Therefore, we need to take steps to win parents’ confidence. For consumer-facing products targeted at young people, it’s possible to experiment more freely, and it’s okay if there are issues. But in our field, some areas require caution, while others can move quickly and break conventions.
We need to distinguish between what cannot be broken and what can be acted on quickly. In our field, there are things that cannot be broken, such as laws and financial regulations. Even if progress is slow, they cannot be violated. However, in some consumer-facing areas, like targeting college students, breaking conventions might be more acceptable. But in children’s education, there are areas that must remain unbroken, such as the values we convey to children. We cannot handle those carelessly or speak irresponsibly.
04 Receiving investment from OpenAI, "Our goal is to assist rather than replace parents, to give children confidence, unconditional love, as well as the necessary knowledge and support
ZP: I saw that Heeyo recently disclosed new funding. Congratulations! Can you share the details of this round of funding?
Xiaoyin: We raised $3.5 million. Our investors include OpenAI, Amazon, and Pear VC, which is a well-regarded venture capital firm in the U.S. Some of our investors are VCs focused on seed rounds, and we also have strategic partners like OpenAI and Amazon involved.
My connection with OpenAI came through a friend. After having a few conversations, we made the decision quickly. Their response was pretty fast, without much delay. As for the investment logic, from what I’ve gathered, it’s quite diversified. Recently, they’ve disclosed investments in robotics, hardware, education-focused companies like ours, as well as consumer-facing and enterprise-oriented ventures.
ZP: You’ve already had entrepreneurial experience before. How does this current venture feel different from your previous one?
Xiaoyin: Last time when I started my business, although we had rapid growth at the beginning, I didn’t really understand a lot of things. For example, sales, marketing, hiring, and human resources—I was totally unfamiliar with them. At that time, I was purely a product manager, just focused on the product. For a long period, I didn’t even know what I was doing; I was learning things like HR and marketing on the go. Every day was full of different problems, and I didn’t know which ones were important or not. It felt like I was dealing with all kinds of things, but didn’t really solve anything. This time, at least I have some experience and a more balanced mindset. When problems arise, I focus on the most important ones first, and let the rest go. Last time, I didn’t even know what the priorities were, so I ended up feeling overwhelmed every day without really solving the issues.
Another difference is that during the last wave in 2020, everyone was more focused on rapid expansion, hiring as many people as possible. Now, partly because of AI and partly due to market conditions, I think many startups are leaning toward being small yet agile. It’s more about having a team of strong, skilled individuals who can accomplish a lot with fewer resources.
ZP: Although we’ve discussed this earlier, I still want to ask you—if you had to describe the initial purpose of creating this project in one sentence, how would you express it?
Xiaoyin: I still go with the same sentence—“Let every child achieve their wildest dreams.” When we were kids, each of us had many wild dreams, but ultimately, many of them weren’t realized. What do you think is the reason behind that?
If I had access to these kinds of resources when I was younger, what kind of person could I have become? For example, when I was a child, Silicon Valley felt so out of reach. It wasn’t until college that I realized many of my friends had already been exposed to these fields in high school or even earlier. They had access to all kinds of creativity and innovation from a young age, while I was completely unaware. No one told me how valuable my passion for creating things was, nor did anyone guide me on how to further develop myself in that area. So, if I had been exposed to this kind of inspiration and guidance earlier, I might have started my entrepreneurial journey at 15, instead of waiting until I was 19. Every spark of curiosity in a child could be the starting point for their dreams. Our job is to capture these moments and help them turn them into the driving force to achieve their dreams.
ZP: What are your biggest expectations for Heeyo and for yourself in ten years?
Xiaoyin: I hope that in ten years, we will reach at least hundreds of millions of children. Heeyo will be able to provide comprehensive support for them, from knowledge and skills to mindset and psychological aspects. Our goal is to assist, not replace, parents. Parents play a crucial role in their children’s development, and we can help them better transmit family values, filling in any gaps in knowledge or skills. Everyone has their area of expertise, and AI’s versatility allows it to understand and adapt to various specialized fields. We hope to use this advantage to strengthen the relationship between parents and children, helping parents educate their children more effectively. For example, if a child doesn’t like eating vegetables, we can use storytelling, letting superheroes inspire the child with their own experiences, naturally helping the child embrace life wisdom and values.
We believe that fostering children’s intrinsic motivation is crucial. We hope that AI can guide them better, rather than having them driven by external pressures. At the same time, we recognize the unique situations of different families, such as only-child families, single-parent households, or fathers who are frequently traveling. These families may face various life challenges, like frequent moves or adapting to new schools. We aim to integrate the knowledge of psychologists and other experts in ways that are easy for children to understand, helping them cope with the challenges they encounter in their growth journey. For example, if a child experiences the loss of a grandmother or parents go through a divorce, we hope to provide personalized education, offering the child confidence, unconditional love, and the necessary knowledge and support. This is a goal we deeply value and are dedicated to achieving.
ZP: The past 1-2 years have been a period of rapid and intense development in the AI industry. What is the most impressive thing or person that left a lasting impression on you?
Xiaoyin: For me, what left a deep impression was ChatGPT 3.5. I think many people would say the same, but I truly believe it was a milestone.
Another thing that left a deep impression on me is HeyGen. It can truly replicate a person and use that replication for a variety of tasks, which I found absolutely stunning. I remember two years ago, we were mocking Zuckerberg’s VR video with the Eiffel Tower, but now, the shift from mockery to reality happened so quickly. This transition has made me in awe of AI’s potential and progress.
ZP: Have you come across any interesting AI products recently?
Xiaoyin: Recently, I came across an AI product for psychological counseling called Sonia, and there’s also a similar one in China called Linjian Liaoyu Room. I think psychological counseling is a perfect fit for AI. When we were studying in the U.S., many of my classmates, including myself, struggled with depression or had difficulty adapting to American culture. At that time, I thought if there were AI providing psychological support, it could have helped us adapt better. I believe this area has huge potential because people are increasingly aware of the importance of emotional needs, and emotional needs are also extremely labor-intensive to address. Everyone craves love and respect, wants their emotional needs to be met, but it’s often hard to find someone who can fulfill those needs. Therefore, AI has great opportunities in the field of psychological counseling, and it’s a track worth paying attention to.
ZP: Could you share some of your daily interests and hobbies outside of work?
Xiaoyin: I love karaoke, and I was the champion of the Stanford singing competition. We also have a karaoke machine at home, and sometimes I sing on platforms. I really enjoy singing, and I particularly like playing the piano. It’s a great way for me to unwind.
Heeyo AI is currently hiring product managers, product designers, and AI engineers. For the AI engineer position, the work location must be in Singapore, and the company will be responsible for the visa application. Friends who are interested can contact via WeChat: cocoonbabe.
Disclaimer
Please note that the content of this interview has been edited and organized and has been approved by Xiaoyin Qu. It only represents the personal views of the interviewee. We also welcome readers to share your opinions on this interview through message interaction. To learn more about Heeyo AI, please visit its official website at https://www.heeyo.ai.
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