AI Tools Aim to Calm High-Conflict Co-Parenting Conversations
Key Points
- Sol Kennedy founded BestInterest to filter and coach co‑parenting messages with AI.
- BestInterest assigns a dedicated phone number to route messages through its AI filter.
- The app validates emotions while suggesting practical, less inflammatory replies.
- OurFamilyWizard introduced ToneMeter AI, combining sentiment analysis and rewrite suggestions.
- ToneMeter AI was trained on about 10,000 anonymized co‑parenting messages.
- Both tools depend on high‑conflict partners agreeing to use the technology.
- Dr. Ramani advises that AI should complement, not replace, human judgment.
- The goal of both solutions is to reduce escalation and improve communication.
Tech entrepreneur Sol Kennedy created the BestInterest app to filter and coach messages between high-conflict co‑parents, using large‑language‑model prompts to strip toxicity and suggest practical replies. The app assigns a dedicated phone number and offers emotional validation while encouraging users to review original messages. Meanwhile, OurFamilyWizard introduced ToneMeter AI, a sentiment‑analysis and rewriting feature built on open‑source models and trained with thousands of anonymized co‑parenting messages. Both solutions seek to reduce escalation, though their effectiveness depends on whether contentious partners adopt the technology.
Background
Divorced parents who share custody often exchange emotionally charged messages that can exacerbate conflict. Traditional co‑parenting platforms provide record‑keeping but lack real‑time emotional guidance. Sol Kennedy, a serial tech founder, experienced these challenges firsthand and turned to AI for assistance.
BestInterest App
Kennedy launched BestInterest, an app that uses off‑the‑shelf large language models combined with custom prompts to filter incoming messages, summarize facts, and suggest calmer responses. Users receive a unique phone number that routes co‑parent messages through the app, allowing the AI to flag aggressive language and propose alternatives. The system also validates intense emotions while encouraging users to focus on practical questions. Kennedy stresses that users should still review original messages when they feel more resourced to ensure nothing important is missed.
OurFamilyWizard’s ToneMeter AI
In response to growing interest in AI‑driven communication aids, OurFamilyWizard upgraded its ToneMeter feature with a large language model. The new ToneMeter AI combines sentiment analysis (Lighthouse) with text generation (Harbor) and a judging model to ensure output meets the company’s tone criteria. Trained on about 10,000 anonymized real messages, the tool flags negative language and offers rewritten alternatives, such as turning a hostile complaint into a polite request.
Challenges and Competition
Both tools face adoption hurdles. BestInterest relies on the co‑parent agreeing to use the app‑assigned number, which may be difficult with high‑conflict individuals. Users often resort to copy‑pasting messages into the app, mirroring how some already use general‑purpose chatbots. ToneMeter AI similarly depends on users heeding its suggestions, which may not happen in heated exchanges. Dr. Ramani, a clinical psychologist who advises BestInterest, notes that while AI can filter toxicity, human judgment remains essential, especially when legal implications are involved.
Outlook
The emergence of AI‑enhanced co‑parenting tools reflects a broader trend toward using technology to mediate personal conflicts. By providing real‑time emotional checks and practical phrasing, apps like BestInterest and features like ToneMeter aim to create space between reactivity and action, potentially reducing escalation and improving communication for families navigating shared custody.