Welcome back to Neural Notes: a weekly column where I look at some of the most interesting AI news of the week. In this edition: The co-founder and CEO of death-tech company Violet on how the company is using AI to assist people in the final stages of life.
Melissa Reader’s journey to founding Violet was a deeply personal one.
Reader identified significant gaps in end-of-life care and the broader healthcare system while caring for her late husband after a sudden terminal diagnosis.
This included a lack of support for those dying and their families, both emotionally and in terms of the unfortunate admin — or ‘sadmin’ as Violet calls it — that comes along with it.
According to Reader, there’s a distinct lack of information available regarding what has to be done during this stage of life.
Reader also found the gaps in end-of-life care also lead to a strain on the healthcare systems, particularly in regards to unnecessary stints in hospitals.
“We do too little too late all the time. It leads to a distressing, complicated, and over-medicalised experience,” Reader said.
Her experience illuminated the need for better planning and support during this crucial period.
“We’re trying to help industry, government, and the community think about the last 12 to 18 months of a person’s life as a life stage, not just the event of someone’s death,” Reader said.
“It’s about planning and talking about it as a natural part of life.”
Violet started life as a not-for-profit but has evolved into a B2B platform servicing the healthcare, financial, aged care and insurance sectors.
The Violet platform offers a range of services, including an AI-powered chatbot companion that provides personalised guidance and support, helping users navigate difficult conversations, planning and decision-making processes.
The AI’s capabilities include sentiment analysis and personalised coaching, with an aim to make the experience as supportive and comforting as possible.
While trust has been a consistent concern when it comes to AI, Violet has seen quite the opposite when it comes to its chatbot.
“In many instances, people are more comfortable opening up to AI because there’s no judgment,” Reader said.
“They can ask those deep existential questions that are hard to ask another person.”
The platform also includes practical resources for future care planning, financial and legal matters, and funeral planning.
Legacy and memory creation is another important part of the platform. Reader also connected that to the importance of rituals and emotional readiness for people navigating this complex time.
“People used to turn to their doctor or their priest to make sense of this experience,” Reader said.
Our relationship with religion is very different now. There’s a hunger for new ways to memorialise people.”
Additionally, Violet provides help with the aforementioned ‘sadmin’ to help families organise important documents and plan for the future, easing the administrative burden during an emotionally challenging time.
The idea is for customers to receive Violet’s support through familiar channels such as their bank, healthcare or insurance provider. According to Violet, this allows for scalability and enables more people to benefit from its end-of-life care.
“They buy Violet for their customers, which gives them an uplift in their customer experience and saves them a lot of time, cost, and complexity,” Reader said.
The financial burden of end-of-life care is substantial, with Violet estimating $4 billion is spent annually on what Reader calls unplanned and unnecessary hospitalisations in Australia.
“The consultant in me looked at this as a classic iceberg. The majority of these costs are from hospital time in the last 12 months of life, where people spend about 35 days in hospital. Up to 10 of those days are non-beneficial — they’re unplanned, unwanted, or unnecessary,” Reader said.
“All the research says we want to be at home, but the system often leads us to hospital. When people are prepared and supported, they spend less time in hospital.”
The statistics highlight the urgent need for change.
According to ABS statistics, over 180,000 people die annually in Australia. This number is expected to double by 2040 due to our ageing population.
Digging deeper into the stats, a Grattan Institute research found 70% of people wish to die at home, but less than 15% actually achieve this.
Violet has also found that a lack of planning contributes to a distressing experience for many.
“Eighty-three percent of people caring for an elderly, frail loved one or someone with a terminal illness found it challenging to talk about and plan for this life stage,” Reader said.
“Eight out of 10 people in our survey said, ‘I don’t know what I don’t know,’ and they don’t even know where to start.”
Violet’s holistic approach also considers the significant impact on families and caregivers.
According to a study by The Evolved Group, approximately 62% of people report being negatively affected by the death of a loved one, with 35% experiencing deteriorated mental health.
“This is one of the most stressful things you can go through. We want to help people through it in a way that supports their mental and emotional wellbeing,” Reader said.
As Violet scales, the plan is to expand into international markets like the UK, Canada and the US — with the goal of becoming a $30 million business by 2030.
At the time of writing, Violet had secured $100,000 of revenue from a major insurer and is looking to hot $500,000 through two fresh deals in June. Its annual recurring revenue is expected to reach $2 million by the end of FY25.
“We’re on the cusp of something really transformative,” Reader said.
“The pandemic, the aged care royal commission, we have assisted dying legislated in every state and territory now — it’s appearing in the zeitgeist like it hasn’t even before. It feels like a really ripe moment for us.”
What other important or simply cooked stuff has been happening in the world of AI?
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Deputy editor
A multi-award-winning journalist, Tegan has been reporting on technology, telecommunications and gaming for the past 10 years. She regularly appears on mainstream media channels as an expert tech commentator. Her previous roles include editor of Gizmodo Australia and global reviews editor at Finder. She has also served as a reporter and editor across Business Insider, Lifehacker and Kotaku Australia. Tegan is also the co-host of one of the top technology podcasts in Australia, Weird Tech. You can find her on Twitter @Tegan_Writes.
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