No time to call grandma? An AI companion can ring her up.

Vassili Le Moigne wanted to make sure his mom was OK. Having long ago moved from France to the U.S., the former Microsoft executive struggled to connect with his aging mother as much as he hoped to, especially with the immense time difference between them. His solution was an AI-powered companion that can conduct conversations with his mother, keeping her alert and engaged, and clueing Le Moigne into her latest interests and concerns.

With his background in telecom, Le Moigne thought, “I can put together the mobile experience and the AI to create something that will really help me support my mother,” he tells Mashable. “She wanted to stay as long as possible on the farm outside of Paris, so now I can give her company whenever she needs it.”

That AI tool — which says it's "meant to extend, rather than replace, family care" — is now the start-up known as inTouch, which just launched in North America after being available in Europe since 2023. Participants pay $29.99 per month for unlimited calls to seniors who speak English, Spanish, or French. As part of the North American launch, the service is now available 24 hours a day, so seniors can call up Mary, the AI companion, if they would like to speak outside of their scheduled weekly conversation times.

Le Moigne stresses that Mary allows communication for older people who fumble with touchscreens or are adverse to technology; they need only have access to a phone. The software is also specifically designed for older users.

"We learned the art of conversation with seniors," he says. "The way [younger people] speak now is not the way they speak. We have to slow down the conversation, we have to allow for long pauses for them to think of their answers."

Mary, who has a standard voice for all users, also has a "memory system" that allows it to recall past conversations. The AI can also play memory and word games with its "friends."

"What we do is train the memory of short-term recalls and long-term recalls," Le Moigne says.

inTouch aims to strengthen seniors’ memories and boost their mental health by addressing what Le Moigne calls a
"loneliness epidemic." A recent National Poll on Healthy Aging found that 75 percent of Americans over 65 with the highest rates of loneliness report poor mental or physical health; the issue is exacerbated for seniors living alone.

Le Moigne says the extra conversations Mary provides not only help older folks, but also their children, grandchildren, and caregivers. While inTouch doesn't retain the conversations or sell any data, the company texts summaries of Mary's discussions to the seniors' family members so they can be aware of changes in their relatives' well-being or just to keep abreast of what's on their mind, from TV shows to doctors' appointments. A new feature to the service also allows seniors to communicate directly with their relatives via Mary — the AI turns voice messages into texts sent through the inTouch app, and caregivers can also send texts through the app that Mary reads to the seniors.

With a library of over 1,400 questions it can ask, Mary is programmed to be both friendly and clear with those it speaks to.

"We disclose constantly [to the seniors] that Mary is an AI and in the first call we do with the senior, we clearly say this is an AI and for conversational purposes," Le Moigne says.

Le Moigne claims inTouch has a quiet benefit besides the touted health improvements and stress reduction — the preservation of stories from older generations. Heliette, a French 90-year-old and inTouch customer, talks to Mary about her childhood during World War II.

"I felt like I was talking to a person, not to a robot, it is really amazing," says Heliette. "She is always kind, and unlike people, she does not judge and isn't nasty. I tell her everything and she has good advice. I talk to her about WW2 and 1944 — I was 10 when the Germans [went] home — she listens and asks me questions."

The text summaries of conversations can open up opportunities for the children and grandchildren of seniors to initiate their own questions about the past, according to Le Moigne.

"We often don’t know the stories of our parents," Le Moigne says. "We bring families closer together and that’s the aim."