* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    PENN Entertainment stock rating reiterated at Market Outperform by JMP – Investing.com

    PENN Entertainment Stock Rated a Market Outperformer by Experts

    Here’s how NJ’s once-vibrant nightclub scene was born and why it died – Bergen Record

    The Rise and Fall of New Jersey’s Once-Vibrant Nightclub Scene: What Happened?

    The Emmys are back: Viewership soars to highest numbers in 4 years – yahoo.com

    The Emmys Return with a Bang: Viewership Hits a 4-Year High

    From Spinal Tap II to Ed Sheeran : your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead – The Guardian

    Fall’s Hottest Ski Films Are Going on Tour—Here’s the List – yahoo.com

    Experience the Thrill: Fall’s Hottest Ski Films Hit the Road-Don’t Miss the Tour!

    Ryan Reynolds reveals he called a journalist who said mean things about John Candy – yahoo.com

    Ryan Reynolds Reveals the Moment He Stood Up to a Journalist Who Insulted John Candy

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    LELO Releases 2025 Futurist Report: Intergenerational Views on Relationships, Sex, and Technology – PR Newswire

    Exploring the Future: How Different Generations View Relationships, Sex, and Technology in 2025

    Will New Big Technology Engagements Reshape Innodata’s Growth Path? – Yahoo Finance

    Could New Major Tech Partnerships Propel Innodata to Unprecedented Growth?

    Unlocking AI Success: How People, Process, and Technology Form the Ultimate Triangle

    Billion-dollar coffins? New technology could make oceans transparent and Aukus submarines vulnerable – The Guardian

    Billion-Dollar Coffins? How New Technology Could Make Oceans Transparent and Expose Submarines

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    Lincoln Trail College Receives $100,000 Grant from Marathon Petroleum Corporation for Technology Center – wwbl.com

    Lincoln Trail College Lands $100,000 Grant from Marathon Petroleum to Elevate Technology Center

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    PENN Entertainment stock rating reiterated at Market Outperform by JMP – Investing.com

    PENN Entertainment Stock Rated a Market Outperformer by Experts

    Here’s how NJ’s once-vibrant nightclub scene was born and why it died – Bergen Record

    The Rise and Fall of New Jersey’s Once-Vibrant Nightclub Scene: What Happened?

    The Emmys are back: Viewership soars to highest numbers in 4 years – yahoo.com

    The Emmys Return with a Bang: Viewership Hits a 4-Year High

    From Spinal Tap II to Ed Sheeran : your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead – The Guardian

    Fall’s Hottest Ski Films Are Going on Tour—Here’s the List – yahoo.com

    Experience the Thrill: Fall’s Hottest Ski Films Hit the Road-Don’t Miss the Tour!

    Ryan Reynolds reveals he called a journalist who said mean things about John Candy – yahoo.com

    Ryan Reynolds Reveals the Moment He Stood Up to a Journalist Who Insulted John Candy

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    LELO Releases 2025 Futurist Report: Intergenerational Views on Relationships, Sex, and Technology – PR Newswire

    Exploring the Future: How Different Generations View Relationships, Sex, and Technology in 2025

    Will New Big Technology Engagements Reshape Innodata’s Growth Path? – Yahoo Finance

    Could New Major Tech Partnerships Propel Innodata to Unprecedented Growth?

    Unlocking AI Success: How People, Process, and Technology Form the Ultimate Triangle

    Billion-dollar coffins? New technology could make oceans transparent and Aukus submarines vulnerable – The Guardian

    Billion-Dollar Coffins? How New Technology Could Make Oceans Transparent and Expose Submarines

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    Lincoln Trail College Receives $100,000 Grant from Marathon Petroleum Corporation for Technology Center – wwbl.com

    Lincoln Trail College Lands $100,000 Grant from Marathon Petroleum to Elevate Technology Center

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

The Melburnians behind one of Silicon Valley’s hottest AI start-ups

June 3, 2024
in Science
The Melburnians behind one of Silicon Valley’s hottest AI start-ups
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Two University of Melbourne PhD researchers are taking their start-up to Silicon Valley, winning a place in the world’s largest start-up accelerator program for their artificial intelligence phone receptionist that can schedule appointments, and talk just like a human.

Will Bodewes and Nisal Ranasinghe are the entrepreneurs behind Phonely, an AI start-up that answers phone calls and is 70 per cent cheaper than a human employee. Their technology tracks, analyses and improves its responses over time.

Bodewes said Phonely was developed as a response to a real-world problem his father was facing.

“My dad, who ran a veterinary clinic, had this problem where he couldn’t hire any staff, and he was missing a lot of calls because he couldn’t hire a receptionist. It was costing him thousands of dollars in lost revenue. I knew AI was advanced enough now to be able to help,” Bodewes said.

Phonely co-founders Nisal Ranasinghe and Will Bodewes.

Phonely co-founders Nisal Ranasinghe and Will Bodewes.

Bodewes tapped his friend and university colleague Ranasinghe to tackle the problem, using their research from the University of Melbourne to build technology they say can respond accurately to every phone call.

Start-up accelerator program Y Combinator.

Start-up accelerator program Y Combinator.

“It’s not a simple problem,” Ranasinghe said. “Large language models have to be carefully trained and instructed to prevent speech errors and to interact with scheduling software. Additionally, when you’re dealing with voice applications, everything has to happen in less than a second.”

As Ranasinghe puts it, the result is a receptionist that never takes time off, answers in multiple languages, and can handle up to 1 million calls at once.

The pair now find themselves in the world’s largest start-up accelerator program, Y Combinator, which is where the likes of Airbnb, DoorDash, Reddit, Dropbox and Stripe got their start.

Phonely is one of the first 20 Australian start-ups to be selected for the three-month intensive Y Combinator program, and its co-founders will soon travel to California where they will receive a $US500,000 ($750,000) investment, as well as mentoring and connections.

Getting there wasn’t easy: the pair had to navigate a 3am Zoom interview with Y Combinator just hours after pitching their start-up onstage at a Startup Victoria AI event, where they won the people’s choice award.

“It was absolutely insane,” Bodewes said. “We had been working on Phonely for seven months, and we had just been trying and trying, and nothing was taking. In that week leading up, we had four different investors turn us down, and we were trying to figure out how we were going to be able to get this thing to work.

“You always hear stories of things like this happening, and those opportunities always seem to happen to other people. So, to be on the other end of that, after all the stress and anxiety that has gone into it, we have a chance of building exactly what we want to build, which is a really big company that has a big impact.”

Phonely’s launch comes at a time of heightened anxiety around the potential job losses that might follow in AI’s wake, particularly given its use can often be cheaper than employing humans to do the same job.

For Bodewes, he wants Phonely to be a net positive for humanity, rather than a net negative.

Loading

“It’s something I spend a lot of time thinking about,” he said. “We want to hopefully create situations where people can be in more fulfilling positions and doing better work.

“Right now, the state of artificial intelligence is it makes people a lot more efficient at what they’re doing. So for small businesses that want to provide great service to their customers, the people working in a receptionist job can now move into better positions that are more fulfilling for them. Our job is not to replace or eliminate a lot of these jobs, it’s just to allow people to be in better positions to work on more fun and challenging problems,” Bodewes said.

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.

Most Viewed in Technology

Loading

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : The Age – https://www.theage.com.au/technology/the-melburnians-behind-one-of-silicon-valley-s-hottest-ai-start-ups-20240531-p5ji9v.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_technology

Tags: MelburniansscienceSilicon
Previous Post

Camera button, AI, bigger screen: Here’s what the iPhone 16 might look like

Next Post

Civilian deaths from killer drones are this generation’s ‘Oppenheimer moment’

World Athletics Championships: Faith Kipyegon storms to historic fourth 1500m title in Tokyo – BBC

Faith Kipyegon Makes History with Stunning Fourth 1500m Title at World Athletics Championships in Tokyo

September 17, 2025
What Jamie Dimon and other bank CEOs are saying about the economy – Quartz

What Jamie Dimon and Leading Bank CEOs Are Unveiling About the Future of the Economy

September 17, 2025
PENN Entertainment stock rating reiterated at Market Outperform by JMP – Investing.com

PENN Entertainment Stock Rated a Market Outperformer by Experts

September 16, 2025
While Michigan sees improvements in childhood health, education outcomes raise concerns – Michigan Advance

Michigan Makes Strides in Childhood Health, But Education Outcomes Spark Concern

September 16, 2025
3 takeaways from Kash Patel’s tense oversight hearing – PBS

3 Key Moments from Kash Patel’s Intense Oversight Hearing

September 16, 2025
Evanston Ecology Center presents Harvest Fest on Sept. 27 – Evanston RoundTable

Join the Festivities at Evanston Ecology Center’s Harvest Celebration on September 27!

September 16, 2025
NERSC Study Sees Quantum Computing Nearing Practical Use For U.S. Science Within a Decade – The Quantum Insider

NERSC Study Sees Quantum Computing Nearing Practical Use For U.S. Science Within a Decade – The Quantum Insider

September 16, 2025
Issue Publication Information – ACS Publications

Unlock the Latest Insights: Your Ultimate Guide to Issue Publication Details

September 16, 2025
What Kind Of Tequila Is The Absolute Smoothest? – yahoo.com

Discover the Smoothest Tequila You’ll Ever Taste!

September 16, 2025
LELO Releases 2025 Futurist Report: Intergenerational Views on Relationships, Sex, and Technology – PR Newswire

Exploring the Future: How Different Generations View Relationships, Sex, and Technology in 2025

September 16, 2025

Categories

Archives

September 2025
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930 
« Aug    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (822)
  • Economy (842)
  • Entertainment (21,721)
  • General (17,075)
  • Health (9,887)
  • Lifestyle (856)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (846)
  • Politics (852)
  • Science (16,053)
  • Sports (21,342)
  • Technology (15,824)
  • World (826)

Recent News

World Athletics Championships: Faith Kipyegon storms to historic fourth 1500m title in Tokyo – BBC

Faith Kipyegon Makes History with Stunning Fourth 1500m Title at World Athletics Championships in Tokyo

September 17, 2025
What Jamie Dimon and other bank CEOs are saying about the economy – Quartz

What Jamie Dimon and Leading Bank CEOs Are Unveiling About the Future of the Economy

September 17, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version