September 1, 2025 • 50 mins
Bullying remains a devastating reality for countless children and teens. But what if technology could offer a powerful new defense? "AI to Combat Bullying" explores an innovative solution to a pervasive problem. Our guest will talk about Bully Buddy, and about how artificial intelligence is being used to create safer, more supportive safe spaces and environments for children and teens. Discover how this platform is empowering kids, educating bystanders, and changing bullying prevention.
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ASharpe Outlook is broadcast live Mondays at 8AM PT on K4HD Radio - Hollywood Talk Radio (www.k4hd.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). ASharpe Outlook TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
ASharpe Outlook Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/asharpe-outlook--6643730/support.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This program is designed to provide general information with regards
to the subject matters covered. This information is given with
the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors or station
are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial,
legal counseling, professional service, or any advice. You should seek
(00:22):
the services of competent professionals before applying or trying any
suggested ideas.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hello, and thank you for tuning in to a Sharp
Outlook on pay for HD radio and talk or TV.
I am Angela Sharp, your host our arm chair discussions
with industry experts will give you the steps, tools and
information to be successful in business and to prepare you
to be your best self. Hello, I'm Angela Sharp, and
(00:57):
first off, I want to thank you for joining us.
It's Labor Day and it's a day where we can
all say thank you for those who put together plans
and ideas and thoughts that helped laborers to have benefits,
to have shorter working hours, to have an insurance coverage
(01:19):
and for one ks and all the different things, and
a lot of that came through our unions. Thank you
union members for fighting for benefits for laborers. So have
a wonderful Labor Day, and I hope you are going
to really be excited to be on our show today
because it affects someone in your family and in your life. Today,
(01:42):
we're going to be talking about bullying. Bullying remains a
devastating reality for countless children and teens, but what if
technology could offer a powerful new defense. AI to compat
bullying explores innovative solution to a pervasive problem. Today I'm
(02:07):
going to be speaking with Jessica's Toft, the thought leader
behind bully Buddy, and about how artificial intelligence is being
used to create safer, more supportive environments for children and teens.
Discover how this platform is empowering kids, educating bystanders, and
(02:27):
changing the future of bullying prevention. In our podcast today,
we're going to talk with the creator of bully Buddy,
a revolutionary platform that uses AI to address bullying head on.
Learn how bully Booty Buddy is helping kids cope with bullying.
(02:50):
And we all know that that is a problem that
is a major problem in this country and probably around
the world. But I know here it is some thing
that is really causing so much fear and anxiety in
our children, and we need to look at solutions that
are preventing future incidents and fostering a culture of empathy
(03:12):
and respect. If you're a parent, educator, or anyone concerned
about the well being of young people, this podcast is
a must listen, a must see, and one that you
must share. Today, I'm talking to Jessica Toft. Jessica is
(03:34):
the visionary, CEO and founder of bully Buddy, an innovative
platform that utilizes the power of AI to combat bullying.
Driven by a deep commitment to creating safer and more
inclusive environments for children and teens, Jessica is changing the
way we address bullying. With a background in education, she
(03:55):
brings a unique perspective to the challenge, focusing on proactive solutions,
support for those affected, and effective prevention strategies. Jessica is
a recognized innovator and a passionate advocate for leveraging technology
technology to make a positive impact on mental health and
(04:16):
well being. More importantly, she's passionate advocate for creating a
world where every child feels safe, supported, and empowered. Witnessing
the devastating impact of bullying firsthand inspired her to create
bully Buddy, a platform that uses the power of AI
(04:36):
to proactively combat bullying and foster empathy. She is committed
to leveraging technology for good, building a future where young
people can thrive without fear. A passionate advocate for mental
health and wellbeing, Jessica is leveraging technology to proactively address
(04:57):
this situation of bullofd I would like to invite you, Jessica,
to join me so that we can begin this conversation
about something that is affecting our children here in this
station and around the world. The bullying and the fear,
and the intimidation and the manipulation. Something has to be done.
(05:19):
And I am so grateful that you were here to
tell us that there's hope and for the teens or
the children that happen to be watching. You've got a
friend and it's bully Buddy, and so we're going to begin.
But you brought a guest today. Please, we would like
(05:41):
to invite our guests that you brought to join us. Also, Hello, Ted,
how are you doing?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Hi Angela. I'm going to do great, having.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Us wonderful, Well, tell us a little about yourself before
we began, you know, just having conversation about this. Tell
us about you.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Sure, I'm the founder and CEO of Glee Labs and
Glee Labs is an AI native innovation studio and venture studio.
We work with founders like Jess who have a strong
vision and a desire to make the world a better
place and leverage AI to do so. And so it's
(06:29):
been really fun working with Jess and being inspired by
her vision and seeing how she really wants to make
the world a better place and is looking at innovative
ways with AI to power that.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yes, well I happened to learn about really, buddy, and
I could not do anything but make sure that I
let your voices be on a sharp outlook. You know,
we're always talking about being your best self here in
an ash are ab outlook and getting informed. Well, I
(07:08):
don't know of any topic more important than trying to
combat bullying and coming up with solutions. So these children
are not feeling so intimidated scared to go to school,
not being able to sit there and study or even
learn because of the fact they're afraid of what's going
to happen when they leave their classroom. It's just at
(07:29):
this point in time in life, we should have grown
up and should be doing a lot better than what's
happening right now. But thank you and think the creator
above that enriched you with the knowledge and information to
make this happen. So what inspired you to create Bully Buddy?
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Well, first of all, thank you Angela for having me
and having Ted. I'm really really grateful for the uppertun
tunity Bully Buddy was born.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
My daughter was.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Being bullied in second grade. My background, I used to
teach in early childhood and direct childcare centers. So when
I approached the school with the issue that she was
coming home every day telling me what was happening at recess,
I was really shocked that they weren't receptive to it,
(08:28):
and they weren't willing to.
Speaker 5 (08:32):
Do anything.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
Really, they didn't think it was a big deal. They
kind of had the kids will be kids' mentality. At
the same time, she kept coming home and I began
to realize that she wasn't able to understand the social
cues that were happening. She thought this game that they
were playing with her that didn't feel good and didn't
(08:55):
she didn't find fun. She thought it was a game still,
and she didn't understand why she was always the one
that they were.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Targeting.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
And so I brought her to a therapist and then
we had her assessed and.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
She was diagnosed as autistic.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
So I deeped dove into autism and what it is,
and back then there was a huge stigma around it,
and so I wasn't going to let that stigma define
my daughter and I wasn't going to let let it
continue the Bulian. So I then got a job in
(09:39):
the school district working in special education, and I got
to learn firsthand from from the school's perspective what's going.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
On and where the.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Problem is that that they're not able to address such
a huge problem that's been going on for a very
long time. I worked with a fifth grader who is
also autistic and has ADHD, and I saw firsthand how
settle the actions were that were taken against him, and
(10:14):
how he was provoked and how things were twisted. And
I got a good overall picture of how we could
use AI.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
To document and show the.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Patterns of behaviors and how we could not only help
the targeted individual, but we could also help the school
and help the parents who are advocating for their children.
So we developed TED and I and Gregory, who's not here,
We have been working since may to train our ai
(10:55):
bully Buddy to be a support tool for people who
our targets bullying and also the.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
Teachers, the parents.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
But the bullies, people who bully people are doing it
from a place of hurt and well they're also doing
it from a place of wanting the control and power
of the situation. There's a reason that they have gotten
to this point in life, and they weren't born this way.
(11:26):
So if we can support everyone involved, I say why not?
And Ted reached out and offered to help me bring
bully Buddy to life. And I couldn't be more grateful.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Oh me either. I remember I used I was a
foster mother. Well when I got them, I was at
grandmother age, so I was a foster grandmother for two
sisters and a brother and they had of course, they
ended up going to new schools and things like that.
(12:00):
And they came in and just said, we can't go
back there anymore. I mean we get cold names when
we're walking down the hall and just different things like that.
I said, oh, yeah, you're going back, and I'm going
back with you. And I went directly to the principal.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
I said, I.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Don't know what you do for your job. Well, let
me tell you what my expectation is, and this is
not good behavior. And I'm sure you wouldn't want me
to make this public to the world because I will
contact every association out there. I will blast this school.
You will lose your funding, and they're going to come
after your job. So do you want to help stop
(12:38):
this or do you want me to start writing? Because
I don't have a problem I can And he's like, well,
you're not from here. I absolutely am not. But I'm
going to show you how everybody else in the world
actually functions. And so you're not going to have my
children treat it this way, are you? No, No, I'm
going to do so even got on the what do
(13:01):
you call those intercom system and told them we are
not going to have bullying. Anybody bullying. You're going to
get suspended. So I was like, yeah, that's okay, because
I wasn't having it. I just said, you know, they
already had been going through experiences in their life. This
is why where they were in foster care. They needed love.
(13:22):
They did not need violence, they didn't need the abuse,
they didn't need all of these emotional, you know, traumas
they had to go through when they're trying to learn,
And so I understand, you know what's going on in
the schools, and I don't know where it all begins,
but those children that are doing it, there's something wrong
(13:43):
in their lives and they're just trying to feel empowered.
But it's the wrong, wrong way to do it.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
I don't want to get on the soap overa here.
Beyond just wanting to stop bullying, what specific problem are
are you trying to solve with bully buddy that existing
solutions aren't weren't addressing. And I think you mentioned it right.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
Right, Well, the schools, I mean it's hard they the
bullying isn't done in front of teachers, right, It's done
in the hallways. It's done now through social media. It's
done when when.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
People aren't looking.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
So to be able to uh empower the target by
by giving them a support system that will document in
timestamp things as they come so that you can't you
can't question the narrative.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
It just is black and white. What it is, uh
is really the.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Key because teachers, I mean, they can only do so
much for one little thing here, another little thing here,
another little thing here, and it's exhausting for them. They
have a lot to do. Teachers don't have an easy job.
They have a very challenging job. And to try to
discern who is in the right, who is in the
wrong when people are not being honest and truthful. Isn't
(15:06):
really fair to the teachers to put that on them.
And not just teachers. I mean, it happens in the workplace,
it happens in relationships, it happens in family dynamics, it
happens in marriages and abusive situations.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
We can combat it at all angles.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Right, right, Wow, it's going to cover more than just
the children. Then it's going to be dealing with you know,
women in domestic you know, violence situations and things like that.
I'm totally against, I mean, well saying too much. I've
experienced some of these things that are occurring, and i
(15:53):
just want to say, first off, parents, you know your children,
and if you know they're out there bullying and tormenting
someone else, I know you want to say kids will
be kids. Well that's not normal, I'll behavior, And so
why don't you talk with them and find out what's
going on? And I'm going to let the experts, you know,
(16:15):
talk with you about that. But parents, somewhere along the line,
you have to take some responsibility for the behavior of
your children. So think about that. Just think about that,
because it does hurt. It really hurts a lot, and
some don't recover. Okay, Bully Buddy uses cutting edge technology.
(16:38):
What were some of the initial challenges in bringing the
idea to life and how how have you been overcoming it?
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Well, I would love for Ted to kind of share this,
because he's really we've walked hand in hand in this experience.
But it's been a learning process and deciding whether to
go with an open AI model or precise AI model,
and whether we should be utilizing multiple experts or singular experts.
(17:12):
It's been an exciting journey that Ted has really been instrumental,
and Greg too in the technical end of things.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
No, it's been a great journey. And one of the
challenges that we faced initially is just had a very
clear vision about what we needed Bully Buddy to do,
and when we looked at the different options for AI,
we realized, right, I think early on that a large
(17:42):
language models and large scale AI wouldn't be appropriate for this,
because really, when a kid is as vulnerable as in
this situation, they really need expert advice. They don't need
generalized AI to give the best guests that AI can
(18:04):
come up with, and the worst thing would be any
level of hallucination or AI making things up and leading
a kid down the wrong path. And so right away
we realized instead of leveraging large language models, we would
need to take the path of a small, precise language model,
(18:24):
and instead of relying on the system to train itself
and to use traditional AI training, we really need experts
who were familiar with this problem. And so Jess was
incredible in terms of identifying experts and then working with
(18:46):
those experts to frame their knowledge such that it could
be useful in an AI model. And what we've come
up with, I think we've sort of exceeded expectations. But
the you know, the level of participation from the experts
who also had a passion for this and their willingness
(19:06):
to be incredibly generous with their frameworks really allowed us
to a provide a place where the child could speak
to the AI, but most importantly be the AI could
be empathetic and then actually offer some real solutions and
remind the child or what's ever being bullied, that their
worth is comes from within and not from from others,
(19:31):
and some other principles along those lines. So that's it's
been a remarkable journey. Great vision to start with, and
then really having AI catch up to that big vision.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Oh yeah, absolutely, and that you know, I work with software,
That's what I do, that's my day job. And so
I'm you know, in experimenting with AI and things, and
like I said, having more specific knowledge base than just
the everything's out there because you know, also know we've
(20:03):
got a lot of disinformation and a whole bunch of
other stuff that's out there too. You don't want to
grabbing that kind of information. So that's really wonderful that
you have. You just have like this whole, you know,
huge team that says we want this to stop. And
that's really important. And I mean I'm just almost in
(20:24):
tears because you know, I see an answer for these
children who are like running home from school or don't
want to go out to recess because you know someone's
looking for them, or a wife at home she's afraid
to spend too much money because she she comes in
(20:45):
the home and who knows what's going to happen to her.
It's there's no there is absolutely no reason for violence
or trying to dominate another person. It's just there's just
no reason for it. And it doesn't make you a
strong man. It doesn't make you a strong woman. In fact,
it really does. It demonstrates that you really are the
(21:10):
weaker vessel that you have to go in and tear
someone else down to make yourself feel powerful or feel good.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
You know.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Check out some of my podcasts learn about maybe finding
your purpose, finding your vision, finding something that gives you
better things to do with your energy and your time
and your mind than you know, challenging and intimidating and
heaven forbid, you know, hitting someone that is smaller than you,
(21:44):
that is there because they love you, but you're not
demonstrating love.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
You know.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
I could just go on and on and on, like
I said, because I've been there, done that. Thank God
that I was able to get, you know, therapy that
I needed and to be able to realize I am strong.
I'm not the experience. I'm someone who survived someone else's
(22:10):
weaknesses and so this is just great. Okay. What are
the key features of the Bully Buddy platform and who
are they designed to help. You mentioned a few, but
what the who all was it designed to help? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (22:34):
I would say it's definitely designed to I mean, so
the power really is in.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
The targeted individual.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Hurt.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
People hurt, and it's a cycle.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
So if we can empower the meek, the ones that
don't want to fight back, but they maybe feel like
they have no other option, that's what we get to do.
We get to give them a tool where they can
go to, they can let it all out, they can talk.
Speaker 5 (23:07):
I mean talking is healing.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
So to be able to release that energy and to
have a tool that understands, empathizes, and listens and then
redirects them to a better mindset, and to remind them
about how wonderful they are and how great they are
and all of the wonderful things about them.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
And to tell them who.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
They can go to, who the safe people in their
lives are. Is they get to stop the cycle they
instead of So I used our Holy Betty three point
oho that we're testing. And my daughters were fighting in
the car on the drive to school the other day,
and my younger daughter was very upset because my older
(23:55):
daughter was picking on her, and so I use that
as an example and when I told Bullybuddy that she
wanted to call her names back, Bully Buddy then.
Speaker 5 (24:08):
Redirected her to her own inner power.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
And it just showed me that we get to stop
people from becoming bullies, we get to end the cycle
by empowering that targeted individual.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
So those are some of the coping mechanisms that you're teaching,
Bully Buddy. What other kinds of coping mechanisms you know,
does Bully Buddy you know teach children right.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Well, we definitely teach them to look inward, to recognize
their strengths, to look around them at the supportive people
in their life that they can turn to, but to
always realize that they hold the power and that Let's
say we're talking about an adult who is in a
(25:02):
situation that they feel like they can't get out of
and they have become hopeless. Well, we now give them
a documenting tool that will recognize the abuse, will call
it by name, that will document it in time, stamp it.
And if they are dragged into a situation where they
are made out to be someone that they're not, or
(25:24):
they're made out to look like the bad guy, which
happens often in belief they can then just simply present
the evidence and they don't have to fight back, they
don't have to take.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
In the abuse.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Internally, they can recognize that that person is operating from
a place of weakness and they.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
Have no power over them anymore. So, so you know,
it's a tool to really empower the meek and the mild.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
It's like having an angel on your shoulder. Yeah, I
mean one that you can actually talk to and it
talks back. Oh my gosh. That that has got to
be very empowering and strengthening for these children and teens,
teens really especially getting on the social media and you know,
(26:14):
allowing so much of that to enter into their space.
I just really really wish we just had had Let's
start having a moral compass, and let's start doing checkups
on our moral compass. How about that check your moral
compass and see how many lines have you crossed? And
(26:37):
if you keep continuing to cross lines, you probably need
to have bully buddy to talk to. That's going to
help you like center yourself and make you realize you
don't have to do that to be important. You're important
all by yourself. You were fearlessly and wonderfully created and
(26:59):
their gifts in you. You don't have to do that.
Find that musical note that you hear when you're dreaming,
or find that beautiful design in that painting that you'd
like to do, or just the song that you want
to write. You have something else in you other than
hurting people that you have to go to school with
(27:21):
or live next door to, or whether you know them
or not. It's like they used to always say, get
a life, you know, and do something else with your time.
But bullying it's not cute. Yeah, you go out there
and you tape it and you put on social media
and you guys have laughs. But one thing I want
(27:43):
to tell you, what goes around comes around, and it
usually comes around seven times worse. So you don't want
to be going down those paths where you're just deliberately
doing that.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
I'm sorry, I just have passion for this. So how
does bully Buddy help prevent bullying from happening in the
first place?
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Is there a way for that to happen?
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Right?
Speaker 4 (28:12):
Well, I mean it also holds people accountable. I think
that that's a huge thing that is really hard to
do in bullying because it's not typically done where you
can see it. So when the victim no longer feels
like they have to fight back, they take themselves out
(28:35):
of the situation and they can't be used anymore, so
that bully's actions start to speak for themselves and it's
much more visible and the targeted individual then lets natural
consequences take place. And sometimes that's what needs to happen
(28:58):
for people to learn learn their lesson is they need
to let a higher power take.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Over, right, and having that accountability, you know, documented accountability.
This is what you said that this person. Do you
think it was the right thing to say? I mean,
it's almost like maybe an angel, but how about a grandma.
It's like having me on your shoulder. You don't want me.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
On your shoulder.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Because I am going to be in your face when
you're out there doing these things. So just having that accountability,
you know, do you know what you just did? And
how would you feel if the same thing happened to you?
So you know, I'm not trying to make anyone feel
(29:52):
ashamed or whatever. I'm wanting you to recognize behaviors do
have consequence.
Speaker 5 (30:01):
And so.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Just like I said, having an angel on your shoulder
to keep you on the right path and a grandma
on the other shoulder when you just don't want to
do right, He's gonna tell you what's up. Hey, I'm
your grandma.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Stop it.
Speaker 5 (30:19):
Sorry.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
One of the things I was wondering, what kind of
feedback have you received from children or parents or educators
who are aware of Bully Buddy and used it. Can
you share maybe some of those. I don't want to
you to expose anything confidential, but can you kind of
(30:43):
give us a hint of what their feedback is?
Speaker 5 (30:47):
Yeah, Ted, do you want to go?
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Well? You know, I think what comes to mind, Angela
is just as we've demoed this, we've we've really seen
it bring people to tears with you know, just that
when parents see the possibility here and even experts in
the field see the possibility and the empathy of the system,
(31:12):
it's it's really brought them to tears because they've they've
been exasperated looking for solutions, and now Bully Buddy's here
and finally there's a place where they're their kid or
they themselves can go and hear that they're not crazy
and be validated. There's there's a way for them to
(31:35):
to tell a story you know, today and tomorrow and
the next day, and then for a pattern to be
recognized so that it's not just my side of the
story versure side of the story, it's it's clear to
anybody objectively that there's a real pattern here and that
something needs to be done to to stop the cycle.
(31:57):
We've put the system through some incredible testing, and I
think I've probably been most impressed with how well the
experts because we were there for the interviews, we were
there for the training, but I've been blown away by
(32:18):
how much of their expertise it comes through the system,
and their empathy comes through, and their ability to redirect
and remind somebody where their value is comes through. I
was really nervous that that would get lost in translation.
And you know, Angela, with your background and technology, you
(32:40):
know garbage in. You know, that's just unavoidable when it
comes to technology. Well, in this case, it was expertise
in and empathy in and I think love and care
into the system, and those are the things that have
come out of Bully Buddy. I think that's been most delightful.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Oh that that to me is just music to my ears.
Like I said, I had those foster children and you know,
they were behind in school. They had been through abuses
and different things like that, and they didn't have maybe
the best feelings about themselves. They didn't have, you know,
(33:21):
that strong confidence or things like that. But just with
having a new place to be at and someone who
would listen and someone who loved them, and someone who said,
I don't care what has happened in the past, or
I don't care what others have told you. You are smart,
(33:41):
you are capable, you are able, and I expect you
to go for the gold. I expect it and I
want you to expect it. And I even had to
catch them up so they graduated on time. They had
to take extra credits, and I went in and talked
to the teachers. I want you to give them extra
classes because I want them graduating on time. I want
(34:05):
you to know.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
M hm.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
They all graduated, and two of them went to technical
school and they're all buried and have families now.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
But beautiful, it was.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
It was worth.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
It was worth the fight.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
It's worth the fight.
Speaker 6 (34:27):
To save a life. And that's what Bully Buddy's doing.
He's saving lives. And I just I thank you, I
thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Okay, what about because you mentioned that your your daughter
was autistic and some other young you know, do you
have any problems or issues with autistic children interacting with
Bully Buddy?
Speaker 4 (35:05):
Well, you know, I mean no, but it's really going
to be helpful for the neurodivergent population because they are
oftentimes the target. I mean, I could go on and
on about how complex communication is because it's such a
(35:28):
spectrum of interpretations and perceptions and perspectives, and when it
comes down to it, we all just need to try
harder to understand one another and to ask questions when
we don't understand one another, and to communicate in a
healthy way. So the basis of Bullyboddy really is surrounded
(35:53):
by how can we communicate with each other in respectful,
healthy ways while respecting ourselves and being assertive and learning
to be assertive, which is necessary in communicating with everyone
in a healthy way.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Well, I had a guest on a few weeks back,
Brain Charity from the United Kingdom, and they are a
program that works specifically with divergency and I'm going to
have to get you in touch with them, because that's
all they do. They work with not only those that
(36:36):
have been diagnosed with different you know, brain changes and
things like that. You know there's people that get PTSD
that brain's not functioning or they've been in an accident.
There's all there's a lot of different Like you said,
they when they were on the show there told me
they're like over six hundred different you know, things that
(36:59):
can affect the brain and for uh and you know,
to not be able to be treated the same just
because of they work differently. I know of autistic kids,
I've been around them. They're some of the smartest children.
(37:19):
When you get into your tech and your mathematics and
things like that, and it's like, hey, now they could
get AI to really work, and there's where they need
to be. But you know, we got to get you know,
employers to get to the point where they realize just
turn the lights down a little bit, you'll have one
of the best programs ever written. But yeah, it's a
(37:43):
matter of just being kinder to one another, I mean,
really being kind. But it's unfortunate these days people don't
even even think about kindness, you know, the way they
see read some of the social media, Like I said,
have grand children. I read some of the comments that
(38:04):
they do back and forth. It's like, oh my goodness,
what is this? And so yeah, it's really really really important.
How do you see Bully Buddy evolving in the future.
I mean, are there any features or other things you're
thinking about, you know, because I know with all kinds
of technology, this is version here, but there are going
(38:28):
to be other versions. What are some of the other
things that you're thinking about?
Speaker 5 (38:32):
Yeah, well, I mean it's endless.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
I think the first time Ted and I spoke, he goes, well,
what do you want to start with? And I was like, Oh,
there's so many problems that we can solve with this.
We have partners with Boys and Girls Club, but we
have another mental health social media platform, Cadre, that we
are in talks with, and I mean there's several autistic
(38:55):
programs that we are talking with, and really it's to
build more versions, to solve more problems, and we now
have a replicatable process that we just need people.
Speaker 5 (39:13):
It's all about the people.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
It's all about the experts, and it's all about the
people that need help. And I think we can do
it fairly quickly too, with Ted and Greg's help.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
M h oh, wonderful. What are some of the biggest
misconceptions people have about using technology, specifically AI to address
bullying issues.
Speaker 5 (39:41):
Ted, do you want to take this one?
Speaker 3 (39:44):
Yeah. I think what comes to mind is, you know,
most people's experiences with AI is you know, with chat,
GPT or with these large language models, and I think
they've witnessed, you know, some they've been blown away, maybe
on one hand by the power and the ability there,
(40:04):
but they pretty quickly realize or find an experience where
there's hallucination, where the AI is just could be more
wrong and it's almost almost comical. And we talked about
this earlier, but I think that that's one of the
things that right away we had to address and take
(40:28):
a totally different path to training models and architecting this.
The models that we have, you know, where the experts
would would set the rules and those rules would be
hard coded and there wouldn't be room for hallucinations. So
I think I think that's one of the challenges that
(40:49):
that we're dealing with. I think the other challenge is
most people when they encounter AI, it's sort of like
this chat experience. It's where you ask AI a question,
AI comes back with an answer and you can kind
of do that back and forth for a period of time,
but at some stage you really need a workflow alongside
(41:15):
that that helps you to say, Okay, these are the
next steps and this is a path you can take,
and you need like in this case, what we call
this application awareness, that AI needs to be aware and
live within an application so that the application to do
things that are super important like provide security, like make
(41:36):
sure that things are recorded so that they can later
be reported. Some of the functionality that applications bring to
the table out around the AI. So I think those
are some of the things that we've seen as some
of the challenges with technology.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
So because we will be ending soon, I want you
to let our listeners know how to connect with bully
Buddy and your team.
Speaker 4 (42:13):
You well, you can find me on LinkedIn often I've
met some really amazing people.
Speaker 5 (42:21):
Like Ted and Greg.
Speaker 4 (42:24):
But you can also go to bullybuddyai dot com and
glee dash labs dot com.
Speaker 5 (42:31):
For for more.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
I mean Ted and Greg get through good Lee Labs.
It's not just Bully Buddy. They're helping others solve big
problems and using AI.
Speaker 5 (42:45):
So it's really exciting.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
What is one thing you want listeners to take away
from this conversation about bully buddy and the fight against bullying?
What what would you it was just one specific thing, well,
narrow it down.
Speaker 4 (43:06):
I mean, the the power is within you. You have
the power over if you respond, how you respond. You
have the power to remember that it's not you, it's them,
and and that is how you how you can not
not get sucked in, how you can stay out of
(43:30):
their trap, you know, to just remember your light.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
Yes, and well, what advice would you give to someone
who is being bullied right now? And what advice would
you give to someone witnessing bullying happen? Happening they're usually
not alone, They've got a group of them.
Speaker 4 (43:51):
Yeah, yeah, no, I think that's that's one of the
hardest parts because it's such an isolating thing. It's really
makes someone feel like they're on an island. It makes
them question their reality.
Speaker 5 (44:05):
So if you see it.
Speaker 4 (44:06):
Happening, don't participate, Just don't just don't listen to the person.
Don't participate, and see how you can offer support and
help to the person you see being targeted. I think
it's way easier for people to walk away because when
you stand up to bully, there's typically reactions directed at
(44:29):
you and more more negative consequences for the targeted individual.
So to not participate in the bullying at all, I
mean by watching it and not doing anything that is participating.
So you really need to walk away and you need
to support those who need to be supported by finding
(44:52):
something healthy to do, finding something that makes you feel good,
finding something that is good for everyone, but not participating
in the negativity.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
Yeah. Absolutely, And finding something doesn't mean you always have
to have something that costs a lot of money or
different things like that. There's so much creativity within us.
We can create new things instead of you know, it's
got to be something that costs the money. It's got
to be the parents got to buy this, they got
(45:25):
to buy that. They've gotta because material things when it
all boils down, really doesn't make people happy. Look at
some of the rich. They are the most unhappy people
I've ever seen in my life. Yes, they can go
wherever they want to go, buy whatever they want to buy,
and they're still unhappy. Okay, since money is not making
you happy, let me give you a little advice. How
(45:45):
about sharing it with people in need and that will
bring you more joy than you can ever ever, ever,
ever imagine it's more to it than just seeing if
you can be the richest who cares. You've got to
understand there's more things important, and that's humanity as a whole.
(46:08):
We are all on this planet together and we need
to do better in getting along and talking to one another.
And yes, we shouldn't have people participating in bullying and
standing around, you know, in a circle and different things
like that. You know, I just it's gotten a lot
worse since when I was a child. But like you said,
(46:32):
you know, you try to stop someone who probably has
been bullied, they need to get this energy out or whatever.
But they need to get the bullying buddy and get
some conversations and go from there. Do any of the
(46:54):
people that might be using bully buddy if it gets
to the point where where the person is talking to
they can see that they're escalating.
Speaker 5 (47:07):
Is there a.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
Trigger or something that can be added, maybe version number
five that sends an alert so a human can actually
you know, be a part of it.
Speaker 5 (47:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (47:26):
Yeah, it definitely redirects people to I mean, we're people centric,
so it's programmed to recognize the red flags and then
direct them straight to the appropriate source.
Speaker 5 (47:43):
To help that person.
Speaker 4 (47:45):
So, I mean, the prevention of what can happen when
people don't have support is in place, which is really important.
Speaker 5 (47:55):
Ted, did you have anything you wanted to add to that?
Speaker 3 (47:58):
Yeah, no, I think you covered it. But I think
that that was one of the things we were super
sensitive too. As you can imagine, Angela is just you know,
certain circumstances, certain red flags really require to you know,
a bully buddy to stop and say, you know, you
need to get bring this to a trusted adult now,
(48:22):
and you know we were we were quick to make
sure that that would be the case. The primary expert
for the system is this gentleman named Dustin Dean, and
there's so many brilliant things that he brought to the table,
but he was also very quick to say, you know,
this is something that we need to bring to you know,
(48:44):
a real person as soon as possible. And so we
we try to draw that line where Bullybuddy's there from
an educational perspective, but bullybuddy is not a therapist, and
there you know there, when things are serious, you need
help from a trusted adult or a trusted professional.
Speaker 2 (49:03):
Great, Wow, this has just been wonderful. Well, I tell you,
I'm really grateful that the two of you were able
to join on this day, and I know those that
are watching and listening have been impacted. And call Bully
Buddy if you know your child is being bullied or
(49:25):
doing the bullying, and get the help so they can
have very happy, joyful, productive lives. This is a Sharp Outlook,
and I'm Angela Sharp. I thank you for joining us
today because this has been very special and I know
you all have been impacted and is always I want
(49:50):
you to be knowing what's going on, get information on
Bully Buddy and stay informed. I want to thank you
for joining us on a Sharp Outlook. We have been
informed and energized to take the next steps. We have
posted links to websites and videos to learn more on
(50:13):
today's topic. Please join us again next week for another
thought provoking conversation right here on k for HD Radio
and Talk for TV. Listen to the podcast on all
the podcast apps, and until next week, stay informed.
This program is designed to provide general information with regards
to the subject matters covered. This information is given with
the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors or station
are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial,
legal counseling, professional service, or any advice. You should seek
(00:22):
the services of competent professionals before applying or trying any
suggested ideas.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hello, and thank you for tuning in to a Sharp
Outlook on pay for HD radio and talk or TV.
I am Angela Sharp, your host our arm chair discussions
with industry experts will give you the steps, tools and
information to be successful in business and to prepare you
to be your best self. Hello, I'm Angela Sharp, and
(00:57):
first off, I want to thank you for joining us.
It's Labor Day and it's a day where we can
all say thank you for those who put together plans
and ideas and thoughts that helped laborers to have benefits,
to have shorter working hours, to have an insurance coverage
(01:19):
and for one ks and all the different things, and
a lot of that came through our unions. Thank you
union members for fighting for benefits for laborers. So have
a wonderful Labor Day, and I hope you are going
to really be excited to be on our show today
because it affects someone in your family and in your life. Today,
(01:42):
we're going to be talking about bullying. Bullying remains a
devastating reality for countless children and teens, but what if
technology could offer a powerful new defense. AI to compat
bullying explores innovative solution to a pervasive problem. Today I'm
(02:07):
going to be speaking with Jessica's Toft, the thought leader
behind bully Buddy, and about how artificial intelligence is being
used to create safer, more supportive environments for children and teens.
Discover how this platform is empowering kids, educating bystanders, and
(02:27):
changing the future of bullying prevention. In our podcast today,
we're going to talk with the creator of bully Buddy,
a revolutionary platform that uses AI to address bullying head on.
Learn how bully Booty Buddy is helping kids cope with bullying.
(02:50):
And we all know that that is a problem that
is a major problem in this country and probably around
the world. But I know here it is some thing
that is really causing so much fear and anxiety in
our children, and we need to look at solutions that
are preventing future incidents and fostering a culture of empathy
(03:12):
and respect. If you're a parent, educator, or anyone concerned
about the well being of young people, this podcast is
a must listen, a must see, and one that you
must share. Today, I'm talking to Jessica Toft. Jessica is
(03:34):
the visionary, CEO and founder of bully Buddy, an innovative
platform that utilizes the power of AI to combat bullying.
Driven by a deep commitment to creating safer and more
inclusive environments for children and teens, Jessica is changing the
way we address bullying. With a background in education, she
(03:55):
brings a unique perspective to the challenge, focusing on proactive solutions,
support for those affected, and effective prevention strategies. Jessica is
a recognized innovator and a passionate advocate for leveraging technology
technology to make a positive impact on mental health and
(04:16):
well being. More importantly, she's passionate advocate for creating a
world where every child feels safe, supported, and empowered. Witnessing
the devastating impact of bullying firsthand inspired her to create
bully Buddy, a platform that uses the power of AI
(04:36):
to proactively combat bullying and foster empathy. She is committed
to leveraging technology for good, building a future where young
people can thrive without fear. A passionate advocate for mental
health and wellbeing, Jessica is leveraging technology to proactively address
(04:57):
this situation of bullofd I would like to invite you, Jessica,
to join me so that we can begin this conversation
about something that is affecting our children here in this
station and around the world. The bullying and the fear,
and the intimidation and the manipulation. Something has to be done.
(05:19):
And I am so grateful that you were here to
tell us that there's hope and for the teens or
the children that happen to be watching. You've got a
friend and it's bully Buddy, and so we're going to begin.
But you brought a guest today. Please, we would like
(05:41):
to invite our guests that you brought to join us. Also, Hello, Ted,
how are you doing?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Hi Angela. I'm going to do great, having.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Us wonderful, Well, tell us a little about yourself before
we began, you know, just having conversation about this. Tell
us about you.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Sure, I'm the founder and CEO of Glee Labs and
Glee Labs is an AI native innovation studio and venture studio.
We work with founders like Jess who have a strong
vision and a desire to make the world a better
place and leverage AI to do so. And so it's
(06:29):
been really fun working with Jess and being inspired by
her vision and seeing how she really wants to make
the world a better place and is looking at innovative
ways with AI to power that.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yes, well I happened to learn about really, buddy, and
I could not do anything but make sure that I
let your voices be on a sharp outlook. You know,
we're always talking about being your best self here in
an ash are ab outlook and getting informed. Well, I
(07:08):
don't know of any topic more important than trying to
combat bullying and coming up with solutions. So these children
are not feeling so intimidated scared to go to school,
not being able to sit there and study or even
learn because of the fact they're afraid of what's going
to happen when they leave their classroom. It's just at
(07:29):
this point in time in life, we should have grown
up and should be doing a lot better than what's
happening right now. But thank you and think the creator
above that enriched you with the knowledge and information to
make this happen. So what inspired you to create Bully Buddy?
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Well, first of all, thank you Angela for having me
and having Ted. I'm really really grateful for the uppertun
tunity Bully Buddy was born.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
My daughter was.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Being bullied in second grade. My background, I used to
teach in early childhood and direct childcare centers. So when
I approached the school with the issue that she was
coming home every day telling me what was happening at recess,
I was really shocked that they weren't receptive to it,
(08:28):
and they weren't willing to.
Speaker 5 (08:32):
Do anything.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
Really, they didn't think it was a big deal. They
kind of had the kids will be kids' mentality. At
the same time, she kept coming home and I began
to realize that she wasn't able to understand the social
cues that were happening. She thought this game that they
were playing with her that didn't feel good and didn't
(08:55):
she didn't find fun. She thought it was a game still,
and she didn't understand why she was always the one
that they were.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Targeting.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
And so I brought her to a therapist and then
we had her assessed and.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
She was diagnosed as autistic.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
So I deeped dove into autism and what it is,
and back then there was a huge stigma around it,
and so I wasn't going to let that stigma define
my daughter and I wasn't going to let let it
continue the Bulian. So I then got a job in
(09:39):
the school district working in special education, and I got
to learn firsthand from from the school's perspective what's going.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
On and where the.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Problem is that that they're not able to address such
a huge problem that's been going on for a very
long time. I worked with a fifth grader who is
also autistic and has ADHD, and I saw firsthand how
settle the actions were that were taken against him, and
(10:14):
how he was provoked and how things were twisted. And
I got a good overall picture of how we could
use AI.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
To document and show the.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Patterns of behaviors and how we could not only help
the targeted individual, but we could also help the school
and help the parents who are advocating for their children.
So we developed TED and I and Gregory, who's not here,
We have been working since may to train our ai
(10:55):
bully Buddy to be a support tool for people who
our targets bullying and also the.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
Teachers, the parents.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
But the bullies, people who bully people are doing it
from a place of hurt and well they're also doing
it from a place of wanting the control and power
of the situation. There's a reason that they have gotten
to this point in life, and they weren't born this way.
(11:26):
So if we can support everyone involved, I say why not?
And Ted reached out and offered to help me bring
bully Buddy to life. And I couldn't be more grateful.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Oh me either. I remember I used I was a
foster mother. Well when I got them, I was at
grandmother age, so I was a foster grandmother for two
sisters and a brother and they had of course, they
ended up going to new schools and things like that.
(12:00):
And they came in and just said, we can't go
back there anymore. I mean we get cold names when
we're walking down the hall and just different things like that.
I said, oh, yeah, you're going back, and I'm going
back with you. And I went directly to the principal.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
I said, I.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Don't know what you do for your job. Well, let
me tell you what my expectation is, and this is
not good behavior. And I'm sure you wouldn't want me
to make this public to the world because I will
contact every association out there. I will blast this school.
You will lose your funding, and they're going to come
after your job. So do you want to help stop
(12:38):
this or do you want me to start writing? Because
I don't have a problem I can And he's like, well,
you're not from here. I absolutely am not. But I'm
going to show you how everybody else in the world
actually functions. And so you're not going to have my
children treat it this way, are you? No, No, I'm
going to do so even got on the what do
(13:01):
you call those intercom system and told them we are
not going to have bullying. Anybody bullying. You're going to
get suspended. So I was like, yeah, that's okay, because
I wasn't having it. I just said, you know, they
already had been going through experiences in their life. This
is why where they were in foster care. They needed love.
(13:22):
They did not need violence, they didn't need the abuse,
they didn't need all of these emotional, you know, traumas
they had to go through when they're trying to learn,
And so I understand, you know what's going on in
the schools, and I don't know where it all begins,
but those children that are doing it, there's something wrong
(13:43):
in their lives and they're just trying to feel empowered.
But it's the wrong, wrong way to do it.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
I don't want to get on the soap overa here.
Beyond just wanting to stop bullying, what specific problem are
are you trying to solve with bully buddy that existing
solutions aren't weren't addressing. And I think you mentioned it right.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
Right, Well, the schools, I mean it's hard they the
bullying isn't done in front of teachers, right, It's done
in the hallways. It's done now through social media. It's
done when when.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
People aren't looking.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
So to be able to uh empower the target by
by giving them a support system that will document in
timestamp things as they come so that you can't you
can't question the narrative.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
It just is black and white. What it is, uh
is really the.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Key because teachers, I mean, they can only do so
much for one little thing here, another little thing here,
another little thing here, and it's exhausting for them. They
have a lot to do. Teachers don't have an easy job.
They have a very challenging job. And to try to
discern who is in the right, who is in the
wrong when people are not being honest and truthful. Isn't
(15:06):
really fair to the teachers to put that on them.
And not just teachers. I mean, it happens in the workplace,
it happens in relationships, it happens in family dynamics, it
happens in marriages and abusive situations.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
We can combat it at all angles.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Right, right, Wow, it's going to cover more than just
the children. Then it's going to be dealing with you know,
women in domestic you know, violence situations and things like that.
I'm totally against, I mean, well saying too much. I've
experienced some of these things that are occurring, and i
(15:53):
just want to say, first off, parents, you know your children,
and if you know they're out there bullying and tormenting
someone else, I know you want to say kids will
be kids. Well that's not normal, I'll behavior, And so
why don't you talk with them and find out what's
going on? And I'm going to let the experts, you know,
(16:15):
talk with you about that. But parents, somewhere along the line,
you have to take some responsibility for the behavior of
your children. So think about that. Just think about that,
because it does hurt. It really hurts a lot, and
some don't recover. Okay, Bully Buddy uses cutting edge technology.
(16:38):
What were some of the initial challenges in bringing the
idea to life and how how have you been overcoming it?
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Well, I would love for Ted to kind of share this,
because he's really we've walked hand in hand in this experience.
But it's been a learning process and deciding whether to
go with an open AI model or precise AI model,
and whether we should be utilizing multiple experts or singular experts.
(17:12):
It's been an exciting journey that Ted has really been instrumental,
and Greg too in the technical end of things.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
No, it's been a great journey. And one of the
challenges that we faced initially is just had a very
clear vision about what we needed Bully Buddy to do,
and when we looked at the different options for AI,
we realized, right, I think early on that a large
(17:42):
language models and large scale AI wouldn't be appropriate for this,
because really, when a kid is as vulnerable as in
this situation, they really need expert advice. They don't need
generalized AI to give the best guests that AI can
(18:04):
come up with, and the worst thing would be any
level of hallucination or AI making things up and leading
a kid down the wrong path. And so right away
we realized instead of leveraging large language models, we would
need to take the path of a small, precise language model,
(18:24):
and instead of relying on the system to train itself
and to use traditional AI training, we really need experts
who were familiar with this problem. And so Jess was
incredible in terms of identifying experts and then working with
(18:46):
those experts to frame their knowledge such that it could
be useful in an AI model. And what we've come
up with, I think we've sort of exceeded expectations. But
the you know, the level of participation from the experts
who also had a passion for this and their willingness
(19:06):
to be incredibly generous with their frameworks really allowed us
to a provide a place where the child could speak
to the AI, but most importantly be the AI could
be empathetic and then actually offer some real solutions and
remind the child or what's ever being bullied, that their
worth is comes from within and not from from others,
(19:31):
and some other principles along those lines. So that's it's
been a remarkable journey. Great vision to start with, and
then really having AI catch up to that big vision.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Oh yeah, absolutely, and that you know, I work with software,
That's what I do, that's my day job. And so
I'm you know, in experimenting with AI and things, and
like I said, having more specific knowledge base than just
the everything's out there because you know, also know we've
(20:03):
got a lot of disinformation and a whole bunch of
other stuff that's out there too. You don't want to
grabbing that kind of information. So that's really wonderful that
you have. You just have like this whole, you know,
huge team that says we want this to stop. And
that's really important. And I mean I'm just almost in
(20:24):
tears because you know, I see an answer for these
children who are like running home from school or don't
want to go out to recess because you know someone's
looking for them, or a wife at home she's afraid
to spend too much money because she she comes in
(20:45):
the home and who knows what's going to happen to her.
It's there's no there is absolutely no reason for violence
or trying to dominate another person. It's just there's just
no reason for it. And it doesn't make you a
strong man. It doesn't make you a strong woman. In fact,
it really does. It demonstrates that you really are the
(21:10):
weaker vessel that you have to go in and tear
someone else down to make yourself feel powerful or feel good.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
You know.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Check out some of my podcasts learn about maybe finding
your purpose, finding your vision, finding something that gives you
better things to do with your energy and your time
and your mind than you know, challenging and intimidating and
heaven forbid, you know, hitting someone that is smaller than you,
(21:44):
that is there because they love you, but you're not
demonstrating love.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
You know.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
I could just go on and on and on, like
I said, because I've been there, done that. Thank God
that I was able to get, you know, therapy that
I needed and to be able to realize I am strong.
I'm not the experience. I'm someone who survived someone else's
(22:10):
weaknesses and so this is just great. Okay. What are
the key features of the Bully Buddy platform and who
are they designed to help. You mentioned a few, but
what the who all was it designed to help? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (22:34):
I would say it's definitely designed to I mean, so
the power really is in.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
The targeted individual.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Hurt.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
People hurt, and it's a cycle.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
So if we can empower the meek, the ones that
don't want to fight back, but they maybe feel like
they have no other option, that's what we get to do.
We get to give them a tool where they can
go to, they can let it all out, they can talk.
Speaker 5 (23:07):
I mean talking is healing.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
So to be able to release that energy and to
have a tool that understands, empathizes, and listens and then
redirects them to a better mindset, and to remind them
about how wonderful they are and how great they are
and all of the wonderful things about them.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
And to tell them who.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
They can go to, who the safe people in their
lives are. Is they get to stop the cycle they
instead of So I used our Holy Betty three point
oho that we're testing. And my daughters were fighting in
the car on the drive to school the other day,
and my younger daughter was very upset because my older
(23:55):
daughter was picking on her, and so I use that
as an example and when I told Bullybuddy that she
wanted to call her names back, Bully Buddy then.
Speaker 5 (24:08):
Redirected her to her own inner power.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
And it just showed me that we get to stop
people from becoming bullies, we get to end the cycle
by empowering that targeted individual.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
So those are some of the coping mechanisms that you're teaching,
Bully Buddy. What other kinds of coping mechanisms you know,
does Bully Buddy you know teach children right.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Well, we definitely teach them to look inward, to recognize
their strengths, to look around them at the supportive people
in their life that they can turn to, but to
always realize that they hold the power and that Let's
say we're talking about an adult who is in a
(25:02):
situation that they feel like they can't get out of
and they have become hopeless. Well, we now give them
a documenting tool that will recognize the abuse, will call
it by name, that will document it in time, stamp it.
And if they are dragged into a situation where they
are made out to be someone that they're not, or
(25:24):
they're made out to look like the bad guy, which
happens often in belief they can then just simply present
the evidence and they don't have to fight back, they
don't have to take.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
In the abuse.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Internally, they can recognize that that person is operating from
a place of weakness and they.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
Have no power over them anymore. So, so you know,
it's a tool to really empower the meek and the mild.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
It's like having an angel on your shoulder. Yeah, I
mean one that you can actually talk to and it
talks back. Oh my gosh. That that has got to
be very empowering and strengthening for these children and teens,
teens really especially getting on the social media and you know,
(26:14):
allowing so much of that to enter into their space.
I just really really wish we just had had Let's
start having a moral compass, and let's start doing checkups
on our moral compass. How about that check your moral
compass and see how many lines have you crossed? And
(26:37):
if you keep continuing to cross lines, you probably need
to have bully buddy to talk to. That's going to
help you like center yourself and make you realize you
don't have to do that to be important. You're important
all by yourself. You were fearlessly and wonderfully created and
(26:59):
their gifts in you. You don't have to do that.
Find that musical note that you hear when you're dreaming,
or find that beautiful design in that painting that you'd
like to do, or just the song that you want
to write. You have something else in you other than
hurting people that you have to go to school with
(27:21):
or live next door to, or whether you know them
or not. It's like they used to always say, get
a life, you know, and do something else with your time.
But bullying it's not cute. Yeah, you go out there
and you tape it and you put on social media
and you guys have laughs. But one thing I want
(27:43):
to tell you, what goes around comes around, and it
usually comes around seven times worse. So you don't want
to be going down those paths where you're just deliberately
doing that.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
I'm sorry, I just have passion for this. So how
does bully Buddy help prevent bullying from happening in the
first place?
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Is there a way for that to happen?
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Right?
Speaker 4 (28:12):
Well, I mean it also holds people accountable. I think
that that's a huge thing that is really hard to
do in bullying because it's not typically done where you
can see it. So when the victim no longer feels
like they have to fight back, they take themselves out
(28:35):
of the situation and they can't be used anymore, so
that bully's actions start to speak for themselves and it's
much more visible and the targeted individual then lets natural
consequences take place. And sometimes that's what needs to happen
(28:58):
for people to learn learn their lesson is they need
to let a higher power take.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Over, right, and having that accountability, you know, documented accountability.
This is what you said that this person. Do you
think it was the right thing to say? I mean,
it's almost like maybe an angel, but how about a grandma.
It's like having me on your shoulder. You don't want me.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
On your shoulder.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Because I am going to be in your face when
you're out there doing these things. So just having that accountability,
you know, do you know what you just did? And
how would you feel if the same thing happened to you?
So you know, I'm not trying to make anyone feel
(29:52):
ashamed or whatever. I'm wanting you to recognize behaviors do
have consequence.
Speaker 5 (30:01):
And so.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Just like I said, having an angel on your shoulder
to keep you on the right path and a grandma
on the other shoulder when you just don't want to
do right, He's gonna tell you what's up. Hey, I'm
your grandma.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Stop it.
Speaker 5 (30:19):
Sorry.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
One of the things I was wondering, what kind of
feedback have you received from children or parents or educators
who are aware of Bully Buddy and used it. Can
you share maybe some of those. I don't want to
you to expose anything confidential, but can you kind of
(30:43):
give us a hint of what their feedback is?
Speaker 5 (30:47):
Yeah, Ted, do you want to go?
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Well? You know, I think what comes to mind, Angela
is just as we've demoed this, we've we've really seen
it bring people to tears with you know, just that
when parents see the possibility here and even experts in
the field see the possibility and the empathy of the system,
(31:12):
it's it's really brought them to tears because they've they've
been exasperated looking for solutions, and now Bully Buddy's here
and finally there's a place where they're their kid or
they themselves can go and hear that they're not crazy
and be validated. There's there's a way for them to
(31:35):
to tell a story you know, today and tomorrow and
the next day, and then for a pattern to be
recognized so that it's not just my side of the
story versure side of the story, it's it's clear to
anybody objectively that there's a real pattern here and that
something needs to be done to to stop the cycle.
(31:57):
We've put the system through some incredible testing, and I
think I've probably been most impressed with how well the
experts because we were there for the interviews, we were
there for the training, but I've been blown away by
(32:18):
how much of their expertise it comes through the system,
and their empathy comes through, and their ability to redirect
and remind somebody where their value is comes through. I
was really nervous that that would get lost in translation.
And you know, Angela, with your background and technology, you
(32:40):
know garbage in. You know, that's just unavoidable when it
comes to technology. Well, in this case, it was expertise
in and empathy in and I think love and care
into the system, and those are the things that have
come out of Bully Buddy. I think that's been most delightful.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Oh that that to me is just music to my ears.
Like I said, I had those foster children and you know,
they were behind in school. They had been through abuses
and different things like that, and they didn't have maybe
the best feelings about themselves. They didn't have, you know,
(33:21):
that strong confidence or things like that. But just with
having a new place to be at and someone who
would listen and someone who loved them, and someone who said,
I don't care what has happened in the past, or
I don't care what others have told you. You are smart,
(33:41):
you are capable, you are able, and I expect you
to go for the gold. I expect it and I
want you to expect it. And I even had to
catch them up so they graduated on time. They had
to take extra credits, and I went in and talked
to the teachers. I want you to give them extra
classes because I want them graduating on time. I want
(34:05):
you to know.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
M hm.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
They all graduated, and two of them went to technical
school and they're all buried and have families now.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
But beautiful, it was.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
It was worth.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
It was worth the fight.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
It's worth the fight.
Speaker 6 (34:27):
To save a life. And that's what Bully Buddy's doing.
He's saving lives. And I just I thank you, I
thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Okay, what about because you mentioned that your your daughter
was autistic and some other young you know, do you
have any problems or issues with autistic children interacting with
Bully Buddy?
Speaker 4 (35:05):
Well, you know, I mean no, but it's really going
to be helpful for the neurodivergent population because they are
oftentimes the target. I mean, I could go on and
on about how complex communication is because it's such a
(35:28):
spectrum of interpretations and perceptions and perspectives, and when it
comes down to it, we all just need to try
harder to understand one another and to ask questions when
we don't understand one another, and to communicate in a
healthy way. So the basis of Bullyboddy really is surrounded
(35:53):
by how can we communicate with each other in respectful,
healthy ways while respecting ourselves and being assertive and learning
to be assertive, which is necessary in communicating with everyone
in a healthy way.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Well, I had a guest on a few weeks back,
Brain Charity from the United Kingdom, and they are a
program that works specifically with divergency and I'm going to
have to get you in touch with them, because that's
all they do. They work with not only those that
(36:36):
have been diagnosed with different you know, brain changes and
things like that. You know there's people that get PTSD
that brain's not functioning or they've been in an accident.
There's all there's a lot of different Like you said,
they when they were on the show there told me
they're like over six hundred different you know, things that
(36:59):
can affect the brain and for uh and you know,
to not be able to be treated the same just
because of they work differently. I know of autistic kids,
I've been around them. They're some of the smartest children.
(37:19):
When you get into your tech and your mathematics and
things like that, and it's like, hey, now they could
get AI to really work, and there's where they need
to be. But you know, we got to get you know,
employers to get to the point where they realize just
turn the lights down a little bit, you'll have one
of the best programs ever written. But yeah, it's a
(37:43):
matter of just being kinder to one another, I mean,
really being kind. But it's unfortunate these days people don't
even even think about kindness, you know, the way they
see read some of the social media, Like I said,
have grand children. I read some of the comments that
(38:04):
they do back and forth. It's like, oh my goodness,
what is this? And so yeah, it's really really really important.
How do you see Bully Buddy evolving in the future.
I mean, are there any features or other things you're
thinking about, you know, because I know with all kinds
of technology, this is version here, but there are going
(38:28):
to be other versions. What are some of the other
things that you're thinking about?
Speaker 5 (38:32):
Yeah, well, I mean it's endless.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
I think the first time Ted and I spoke, he goes, well,
what do you want to start with? And I was like, Oh,
there's so many problems that we can solve with this.
We have partners with Boys and Girls Club, but we
have another mental health social media platform, Cadre, that we
are in talks with, and I mean there's several autistic
(38:55):
programs that we are talking with, and really it's to
build more versions, to solve more problems, and we now
have a replicatable process that we just need people.
Speaker 5 (39:13):
It's all about the people.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
It's all about the experts, and it's all about the
people that need help. And I think we can do
it fairly quickly too, with Ted and Greg's help.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
M h oh, wonderful. What are some of the biggest
misconceptions people have about using technology, specifically AI to address
bullying issues.
Speaker 5 (39:41):
Ted, do you want to take this one?
Speaker 3 (39:44):
Yeah. I think what comes to mind is, you know,
most people's experiences with AI is you know, with chat,
GPT or with these large language models, and I think
they've witnessed, you know, some they've been blown away, maybe
on one hand by the power and the ability there,
(40:04):
but they pretty quickly realize or find an experience where
there's hallucination, where the AI is just could be more
wrong and it's almost almost comical. And we talked about
this earlier, but I think that that's one of the
things that right away we had to address and take
(40:28):
a totally different path to training models and architecting this.
The models that we have, you know, where the experts
would would set the rules and those rules would be
hard coded and there wouldn't be room for hallucinations. So
I think I think that's one of the challenges that
(40:49):
that we're dealing with. I think the other challenge is
most people when they encounter AI, it's sort of like
this chat experience. It's where you ask AI a question,
AI comes back with an answer and you can kind
of do that back and forth for a period of time,
but at some stage you really need a workflow alongside
(41:15):
that that helps you to say, Okay, these are the
next steps and this is a path you can take,
and you need like in this case, what we call
this application awareness, that AI needs to be aware and
live within an application so that the application to do
things that are super important like provide security, like make
(41:36):
sure that things are recorded so that they can later
be reported. Some of the functionality that applications bring to
the table out around the AI. So I think those
are some of the things that we've seen as some
of the challenges with technology.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
So because we will be ending soon, I want you
to let our listeners know how to connect with bully
Buddy and your team.
Speaker 4 (42:13):
You well, you can find me on LinkedIn often I've
met some really amazing people.
Speaker 5 (42:21):
Like Ted and Greg.
Speaker 4 (42:24):
But you can also go to bullybuddyai dot com and
glee dash labs dot com.
Speaker 5 (42:31):
For for more.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
I mean Ted and Greg get through good Lee Labs.
It's not just Bully Buddy. They're helping others solve big
problems and using AI.
Speaker 5 (42:45):
So it's really exciting.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
What is one thing you want listeners to take away
from this conversation about bully buddy and the fight against bullying?
What what would you it was just one specific thing, well,
narrow it down.
Speaker 4 (43:06):
I mean, the the power is within you. You have
the power over if you respond, how you respond. You
have the power to remember that it's not you, it's them,
and and that is how you how you can not
not get sucked in, how you can stay out of
(43:30):
their trap, you know, to just remember your light.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
Yes, and well, what advice would you give to someone
who is being bullied right now? And what advice would
you give to someone witnessing bullying happen? Happening they're usually
not alone, They've got a group of them.
Speaker 4 (43:51):
Yeah, yeah, no, I think that's that's one of the
hardest parts because it's such an isolating thing. It's really
makes someone feel like they're on an island. It makes
them question their reality.
Speaker 5 (44:05):
So if you see it.
Speaker 4 (44:06):
Happening, don't participate, Just don't just don't listen to the person.
Don't participate, and see how you can offer support and
help to the person you see being targeted. I think
it's way easier for people to walk away because when
you stand up to bully, there's typically reactions directed at
(44:29):
you and more more negative consequences for the targeted individual.
So to not participate in the bullying at all, I
mean by watching it and not doing anything that is participating.
So you really need to walk away and you need
to support those who need to be supported by finding
(44:52):
something healthy to do, finding something that makes you feel good,
finding something that is good for everyone, but not participating
in the negativity.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
Yeah. Absolutely, And finding something doesn't mean you always have
to have something that costs a lot of money or
different things like that. There's so much creativity within us.
We can create new things instead of you know, it's
got to be something that costs the money. It's got
to be the parents got to buy this, they got
(45:25):
to buy that. They've gotta because material things when it
all boils down, really doesn't make people happy. Look at
some of the rich. They are the most unhappy people
I've ever seen in my life. Yes, they can go
wherever they want to go, buy whatever they want to buy,
and they're still unhappy. Okay, since money is not making
you happy, let me give you a little advice. How
(45:45):
about sharing it with people in need and that will
bring you more joy than you can ever ever, ever,
ever imagine it's more to it than just seeing if
you can be the richest who cares. You've got to
understand there's more things important, and that's humanity as a whole.
(46:08):
We are all on this planet together and we need
to do better in getting along and talking to one another.
And yes, we shouldn't have people participating in bullying and
standing around, you know, in a circle and different things
like that. You know, I just it's gotten a lot
worse since when I was a child. But like you said,
(46:32):
you know, you try to stop someone who probably has
been bullied, they need to get this energy out or whatever.
But they need to get the bullying buddy and get
some conversations and go from there. Do any of the
(46:54):
people that might be using bully buddy if it gets
to the point where where the person is talking to
they can see that they're escalating.
Speaker 5 (47:07):
Is there a.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
Trigger or something that can be added, maybe version number
five that sends an alert so a human can actually
you know, be a part of it.
Speaker 5 (47:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (47:26):
Yeah, it definitely redirects people to I mean, we're people centric,
so it's programmed to recognize the red flags and then
direct them straight to the appropriate source.
Speaker 5 (47:43):
To help that person.
Speaker 4 (47:45):
So, I mean, the prevention of what can happen when
people don't have support is in place, which is really important.
Speaker 5 (47:55):
Ted, did you have anything you wanted to add to that?
Speaker 3 (47:58):
Yeah, no, I think you covered it. But I think
that that was one of the things we were super
sensitive too. As you can imagine, Angela is just you know,
certain circumstances, certain red flags really require to you know,
a bully buddy to stop and say, you know, you
need to get bring this to a trusted adult now,
(48:22):
and you know we were we were quick to make
sure that that would be the case. The primary expert
for the system is this gentleman named Dustin Dean, and
there's so many brilliant things that he brought to the table,
but he was also very quick to say, you know,
this is something that we need to bring to you know,
(48:44):
a real person as soon as possible. And so we
we try to draw that line where Bullybuddy's there from
an educational perspective, but bullybuddy is not a therapist, and
there you know there, when things are serious, you need
help from a trusted adult or a trusted professional.
Speaker 2 (49:03):
Great, Wow, this has just been wonderful. Well, I tell you,
I'm really grateful that the two of you were able
to join on this day, and I know those that
are watching and listening have been impacted. And call Bully
Buddy if you know your child is being bullied or
(49:25):
doing the bullying, and get the help so they can
have very happy, joyful, productive lives. This is a Sharp Outlook,
and I'm Angela Sharp. I thank you for joining us
today because this has been very special and I know
you all have been impacted and is always I want
(49:50):
you to be knowing what's going on, get information on
Bully Buddy and stay informed. I want to thank you
for joining us on a Sharp Outlook. We have been
informed and energized to take the next steps. We have
posted links to websites and videos to learn more on
(50:13):
today's topic. Please join us again next week for another
thought provoking conversation right here on k for HD Radio
and Talk for TV. Listen to the podcast on all
the podcast apps, and until next week, stay informed.
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