Jason Brazeal Deep Learning and Neural Networks Engineer and CEO of Babel Fish AI speaks:
You recently released all of your product pricing and updated the release dates. Can you tell me about that?
Yeah, so we have been developing these products for the past year and finally have decided to release them to the public.
I had a sticky situation with another company that I was a part of which there were some disagreements over certain elements that held up the process.
But I effectively ended my tenure there due to some scam related things which I uncovered. I'm not into that or about that and I want no part of it.
Can you tell me more about that?
Well, yeah so what happened is I graduated with my certifications in AI and deep learning and I secured a position with a company called Echo Genius AI out of Atlanta Georgia.
Essentially what happened is they had purchased an agency license for 100k from a company called Air.ai and had hired me to handle all of the AI engineering and to lead the team, etc.
So, I discovered as I mastered the platform that what they were using was a simple solution that only utilized a pretrained machine learning model. So I looked in to who had started the company and discovered it was a kid named Caleb Maddix. Who is a known scammer. He actually called me up on one occasion to try to get me to tell him how I got the AI to hang up.
I had made advancements with it that their own developers were unable to do because they aren't AI people. So, as the scam started to unfold they had initially set the barrier at 100 agencies for 100k per license but they would still sell to the public which effectively neutralizes any license because license holders can't compete with the source going direct to consumers and to agencies in that manner and all compete against one another. It's a very obvious pyramid scheme. Well, they decided to get even more license holders and acquired more at 50k per license and then yet others at 25k.
So the company I had been brought in for was very happy with my work because it had nothing to do with me whatsoever. But they offered me a 5% ownership of the company but never produced any paperwork which detailed this. Then they were unable to make sales because they were trying to charge way too much than the technology is worth for it.
So, I mentioned that they should lower their prices and ditch the sales person which they had acquired...who was a sleazy used car salesman type. Well, they wound up cutting my pay after they had given me a substantial raise so that they could keep me on. But promised to pay me backpay for all of the time I missed myy regular pay.
Needless to say I wasn't ok with that and I dug more into Air.ai to find that they had a ton of negative reviews on Trustpilot and even YouTube channels dedicated to exposing their scam.
So, I went out and launched my very own conversational AI which uses a deep learning model and it is not ChatGPT based either. We use LPU technology.
I developed my own company which was a direct backlash from having my pay cut and working for this incompetent company Echo Genius AI.
I was actually considering making them the exclusive distributor of the product. Then things got even weirder... James McLeod the CEO of Echo Genius AI reached out to me one day and said that hwe was afraid I might die, and he went into all these different scenarios involving me dying to try to get me to submit to giving him a percentage of Babel Fish AI. Because I owed it to him and because he had to have more in order to want to sell Babel fish products. So, he put me on the spot and I initially agreed to 40% but then I got to thinking about it and I really didn't like the way he was trying to manipulate me. I also didn't appreciate the almost wishing's of ill will that he was exhibiting for no reason. So I decided that I needed to have the paperwork from my 5% ownership for my records and I have never received that and then once I received it we could talk about how to work together with that.
So, I waited and then a few days later he texted me wanting the login information for the conversational AI. So I told him that I had thought about it and I needed to have the paperwork in hand which details my 5% ownership before we dive in to any of that. I was essentially calling his bluff. I didn't believe that it was legit and I was calling him out. So, a few weeks pass and then he reaches out to me and says that the attorney is drafting up the paperwork for my 5% ownership. Which tells me that he was full of it because all he had to do was produce it earlier. I already knew he was lying.
Then more time passes and he reaches out and wants me to tell him exactly what to have the attorney put in the paperwork. Which made me think he was trying to draft something up himself and there was no attorney.
So, I found an exclusive distributors agreement and reformatted it for my purpose to give the basic idea of what I wanted. It effectively put him in his place because it established Babel Fish as the supplier...which it is and Echo Genius AI as an exclusive distributor. It means that they have nothing to do with Babel Fish and Babel Fish is separate from Echo Genius but we can work out an exclusive distributor agreement which enables them to be the sole source by which Babel Fish products can be acquired.
So more time passes and then he calls me up and wants me to have a meeting with the 2 partners and investors. So I agree.
So, we have this meeting right with myself, James McLeod, Jason Crowe and some other joker. Then they tell me they want to offer me 20% ownership of Echo Genius AI and we partner up and it all becomes a conglomerate basically. Then they say that they're going to have to talk to some investors to get more ad spend for Air.ai. And if I am onboard then here in a year or two we can sell the company and make millions.
Well, to start they're not understanding the market value of a conversational AI product. It's worth a good portion but no where near as much as they are postulating. The fact is, that they're really not all that hard to make if you have an AI or machine learning engineer. Secondly, the way these things work isn't as isolated softwares that you can effectively license because there are always going to be components of such a software suite that are fulfilled by external sources. You will always need to have certain things in there which cannot be fulfilled solely in an isolated software platform unless you are running it locally or if you create your very own from scratch. There are always components which need to be sourced to make the entire thing work.
Secondly, most of the tools need for these suites are relatively easy to obtain if you are an AI engineer and you know where to look. The trick is in knowing exactly what to use, how to use and how to package and deploy it.
Thirdly, the Air.ai platform is a known scam and the setup is one in which users log in to a dashboard and create their own agents with very little information or guidance. This causes a plethora of people who login and think they know what they're doing but they really don't. So, what happens is they make mistakes, or just think they know more than they do and they wind up with an inferior representation of what it is. Combine that with the fact that the Air.ai platform doesn't work correctly half the time and is very limited in it's scope.
One look at their default prompt on the Air.ai platform will make any real prompt engineer of AI engineer crack up because it's nonsensical and ridiculous. It's a dumb prompt written by someone trying to sound like they knew what they were doing and were adept enough to get it to function but that's about the end of it.
So, basically I was left wondering....well. What is going on here is these guys have invested what they claim to be 100k for an Air.ai resellers license and the technology is worth about a quarter of that. Then they combined this problem with investing all of this money into it for advertising. They threw out a figure of 300k. Which I am sure it is probably somewhere around there. So what I bet is going on is these people want to acquire Babel Fish because they know that there is no way that they're going to turn a profit that makes up for all of those 300k of misspent funds. But, if they acquire Babel Fish then they think they could turn it around and sell the company at a profit.
But then they would be all up in my business about Babel Fish and want to see this and that and have influence over this and that and I don't want that.
I want to own Babel Fish and I don't want to sell it and I don't want it associated with Air.ai or any scam product or scam agency.
I also realized that they're wanting to get more investors and basically scam those investors by selling them on a scam product that they couldn't sell and thereby committing fraud.
I decided that I want no part of that. But then they did something else.
Then they paid me late again and as of today I have only received half of my pay from last week and it took 3 days to get that half. So, I put in my 2 weeks notice and have insisted that I get paid for the rest of last week and for the next 2 weeks as I should because I delivered my notice.
That is where things are. I told them I do not want to be a partner. You can paint a turd gold but it's still a turd and then you can paint a lump gold too but that's still a lump.
I have not received any partnership paperwork. They want to push a scam product, they want to defraud investors and I didn't want any part of that.
Oh, and they owe me money and I'm a 5% owner in the company and telling you that until they clean up their act don't have anything to do with them.
So, I left and I would advise that anyone reading this would not get involved with either of those companies because no good will come of it.
Wow! that's insane! Not all startups are ran by good people. You learned a lot from it though it seems. How did that help you with Babel Fish? Didn't you just release an affiliates program?
Yeah, so I am a professional. I work as a professional and I commit myself to providing the best. I am not going to mess around with scams or have my products sitting alongside scam products or agencies like that. As someone who has studied perception management, I know that is a killer. So, I only want to work with legitimate, established companies who want to offer AI to their clients in conjunction with their other offerings for example.
So, as a result I feel that we should work with no more than 10 agencies in total at any given time. There is a vetting process and there is a fee associated with it. I intentionally set the fee low but also high enough that it will make sure that you are committed. That's really all it is. We just want to see that you're serious about it and you're not going to waste our time or yours. That you will be committed to pushing the products and earning your rewards and the best way to do that is to charge a fee. But I want it to be accessible so I keep it low and the idea is to keep it just high enough that you're going to work for it. If we only work with 10 agencies then those 10 agencies will be expected to produce. We don't want to get bogged down with 10 agencies that do little to nothing. So it's a win/win.
How does Babel Fish differ from competitors?
Simple, we handle everything. We take the clients data, create the agent or agents for them and we deploy, maintain and monitor them around the clock at regular intervals to ensure that everything is running smoothly. There is no dashboard to log in to. There's no prompting or technical integrations that you need to worry about. We handle it all.
It's really a boutique type setup without the boutique prices.
The reason I opted for this route is to ensure that each client gets the best we have to offer, they can focus on their business and it's like they have a professional team of AI engineers working on their behalf. It's ideal for people who want the technology but are not IT people, or agencies who want to offer these products but don't have the technical skills or perhaps they don't want to have to worry about the backend stuff.
So, with agencies they collect the pay from their client, pay us and we handle their needs. Monthly fees go in to the agency and they turn around and pay us our cut, etc.
So it's like having a professional team of AI people working for you. We aren't interested in working with the scuzzy used car salesman types. We want legitimate businesses who want a real no BS approach to AI and who want custom AI models, AI-fused Mobile App Development, Conversational AI, Website Receptionists, etc. We have spoken a lot today about the Conversational AI because it is essentially how things all began was to offer a solution which is genuine and geared towards success rather than some scuzzy pyramid scheme. But to be honest with you the Conversational AI is just one of our products and it's not even the main one. The main one is building out custom AI models for businesses. The Conversational AI was something that I knew how to do so I just did it. But it is not a flagship product or even a product I consider to be the main offering of our company. It's great and it'll do a great job for the clients but it's not really our main focus because it doesn't need to be. It already works great.
How many engineers do you have?
I am the CEO and lead and I am head of research and development too, but I just drafted 3 other AI Engineers and an assistant. So we are a team now.
Are you hiring?
If you're experienced I am happy to look and see if we can use you. Just contact me or shoot me an email with your CV @ info@babel-fish.ai
You have an unusual marketing style that really stands out.
Yeah, I am just being me. I learned from one of the best who ever lived. He was a very successful copywriter and he was also the Godfather Of Gore.
He taught me a lot. Then I studied and took courses on Perception Management, which is like the upper echelon of marketing. Most people don't know what that is and that's fine.
It's a thing and I have studied and learned it and I do utilize it.
Your logo for Babel Fish is unusual what is it?
That was actually a concept I came up with and it began with the Babel Fish from Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.
It started with that and became what it is as I reimagined it.
I suppose I could have been like all the others out there who just do some lame looking site with a blue half crescent and some squiggly lines running through it.
But then I wouldn't be who I am. I mean I used to work in the film industry. I am a member of Chas Baluns' Splat Pack from Deep Red Magazine. I worked for Famous Monsters of Filmland which is the very first horror magazine that ever existed. The OG. The one that is still hailed to this day that was created by the guy who invented cosplay. That's some pretty heavy hitting stuff so I couldn't just be like the others. Besides, wouldn't you rather hire someone who is obviously elite and who produces such fine work? Wouldn't you rather hire the imaginative person over the joker who just slaps some generic Canva stock log on their website? I would think so. If not then I might not want you for my client.
How did AI Jeannie come about?
Actually, I dug through some genie movies and I remembered seeing one in the early 2000's. It was this cheesy Up All Night type of film that I like but it's pretty corny. Well, anyway I remembered the name of it Miracle Beach and rewatched it and then I looked at some old I Dream Of Jeannie episodes and some of the old fairy tales from Middle Eastern folklore. So I took all that information and based the coloring and costume design on Miracle Beach and I Dream of Jeannie and then I just sort of designed it all around that type of color scheme. I created the AI to have it's own distinct and very sarcastic personality, with a love for punk rock, horror and vindaloo. That's the persona of that particular agent which serves as the mascot or host, if you will.
You see, where that comes from is the old Creepy and Eerie comics from way, way back before my time and the Cryptkeeper. You know how those old comics would have the host. The would always be featured in the upper left hand corner of the magazine and they would have editorials, letters, ads, and they would actually introduce stories with little puns and things. Kind of silly. But I agree with that concept. You need the host. The persona. The mascot. Like the Geico Lizard, or the Caveman or Sasquatch from Slim Jim.
That's the origins of it. There's a property I own called Space Monsters Magazine which I am relaunching in a few days as a publisher and an online comics and art creator, etc. There will be art from humans too in the store and there will be guest artists, writers, etc. It revolves around horror/sci-fi but I did the same thing with that. I created a skeleton type spaceman with glowing green eyes called Grimaldi, which is an ode to Heavy Metal The Illustrated Fantasy Magazine.
But that is where it took root. I like to have a mascot. It's the most important thing you can do in business if you want me to be honest. That's what makes you memorable.
You seem like a person who isn't afraid of anything and is committed to providing quality products and I admire that you were able to handle those types of scammers so well. Any closing thoughts?
Just, be true to yourself and your vision. Don't get embroiled with types like that. Show integrity and only deliver quality products and service and commit yourself to only working with others who do the same. I got embroiled with some bad people but I learned from it and I didn't allow them to sway my professional direction. I toyed with them and learned from them.
Oh, and investors....if you are not an AI or ML person and you want to invest in it then I implore you to please, please, please seek out the advice of an AI professional. I offer this service now by the way. I am happy to act as a consultant for any business which is looking to invest in AI software or services and I will dive in and dig into it and I will give you an honest assessment of what you have in mind and whether or not it will work good for you, whether or not it is cost effective and if you might explore other options. That doesn't mean that I will always refer Babel Fish either. There are some things that others do better, or specialize in and I am always happy to give honest consultations to help companies that want to achieve and to help them avoid losing money and the other pitfalls. That is why I opted to start my own company which creates the software for the clients and does it in a fair and ethical standard and price point. This is why we have a reseller program but we vet potential partners to make certain that they reflect the correct mindset and are not the type who would take advantage of business owners and others. I think there needs to be a good product offering, with fair and transparent pricing and good representation and support of the goods and services provided. I want nothing to do with anything that is as described in my unfortunate dealings above. But these are things to make you aware as job seekers and investors so that you take care to choose the right company to work with and choose one which will offer you value and support. And for business owners looking to get into this industry take care and do things right and ethical. Keep a good reputation.
Jason Brazeal can be contacted via his website @ www.babel-fish.ai
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