The “Hands Free” Manifesto

Ben Toronto

Co-Founder & CEO

We’ve been building TheraPro (https://therapro.ai/) for over 18 months now, and we are at an inflection point. It’s becoming clear where building with an AI-first approach is taking us, and everyone on the front lines of care delivery in mental health — to what we’re calling a “hands free” future. This is a future where the way we interact with systems is radically different than it is today. It’s a future where instead of looking at and typing into a device, we will just do our work, with AI (ours is called “Thera”) following us, observing us, learning, responding, and proactively doing the things we want it to do. This view of the future is shaping the direction we’re taking TheraPro.

We have decided to articulate our perspective publicly in this “Hands Free” Manifesto. Why? So that our users know where we’re going (and can tell us how crazy or how inspired we are, or both). So that we can be a voice for what we see as positive change in all the technology therapists rely on, not just our product. And so that we can push ourselves and our industry in a “race to the top”. If someone else can deliver on our “hands free” vision better than we can, then therapists and their clients win, and that’s what matters.

The seven points of our “Hands Free” Manifesto follow:

1. The AI of today is underestimated

AI, as it is today, not as it might be, is far more powerful than most people think and far less ubiquitous than it could be. It is up to us as builders to figure out how to realize this untapped potential for our users. As we build, we focus on what’s possible now, ignoring the utopians, the alarmists, and the disillusioned. They are nothing but noise. We are shipping AI product today, building toward a future where trusted AI is all around us, always studying, always learning, and always taking action in ways we want that matter to us, with no human input required.

2. The era of the “million boxes” is over

It follows that the days of machines requiring humans to stare at screens filled with a million boxes are over. A computer interface that takes a dependency on human cognition and musculoskeletal interaction is doomed to fail. Human brains are no longer needed as the direct producers of product input. Human hands are no longer needed as the direct mechanism of product action. Brains and hands are free to do other, more human, more important, things.

3. “Hands free” now wins

The paradigm has inverted, the machines now serve us. Our computer interfaces are now designed for zero intentional human interaction. There is nothing wrong with activating human neural impulses in front of a screen, but this is completely optional. “Hands free” is the default. Wet brains interact with machines because we choose to, not because we have to. Our users feel freedom and relief as they are no longer tied to technology. They can focus on doing the work they love, not the work they hate.

What does this mean for therapists? Here’s our vision: you walk in to your office in the morning, you spend your day connecting with clients, laughing, crying, feeling happy for them when there’s a breakthrough, feeling frustrated with them when there’s not. Then you finish your day, you get up, walk out of your office, and go home to live your life. That’s it, no notes, no billing, no scheduling, no paperwork, no insurance hassle. You focus on being human with your clients and trust that Thera will take care of the rest. This is the future we aspire to.

4. Trust will be the hardest and most important thing to build

We do not fully control the timeline for making this future happen. Users will move to “hands free” on their own timelines, and those timelines will be driven by trust. The more users trust, the less they need to control, and the more “hands free” they become. The irony for us as builders is that we cannot build trust directly. Trust depends on the quality and consistency of our product outputs and actions. Trust is a reflection of us as stewards of product and data. Trust prioritizes transparency over correctness. Trust requires humility.

5. Data is the key to quality

“Hands free” wins, trust leads to “hands free”, quality builds trust, and data informs quality. Therefore, the data we bring to bear in constructing a “hands free” experience is the ultimate determinant of product success. She who has the breadth and depth of data wins. Data is what makes things “just work”. Our users must be able to make the connection between the data they offer and the product quality that results from it. The tradeoff must be worth it to them.

6. Product love leads to data

Business models that depend on creating friction for users are dead. Business models that depend on a product that engenders user love that in turn drives usage and generates data to produce better product will succeed. Success will be sustained as long as this cycle is sustained. Product that treats data as sunk cost for users is gone. Product that treats data as a chance to build better product (that users love even more) is here. Everyone wins, us as builders, the therapists using our products, and the people they are helping heal. But the complacent incumbents do not win. They will be disrupted.

7. “Hands free” product engenders user love

There is a direct relationship between a product’s minimalism and the love it engenders. Products that require users to do things are annoying and will go extinct. Products that take away from users things they have to do are pleasing and will thrive. A minimalist user experience lightens the user’s cognitive load. It is transparent, it is responsive, it is unobtrusive, it is undemanding, it is “just there” and it “just works”. Users love it.

We realize that bringing our “hands free” vision to life will require far more resources than we can bring to bear. We can’t make it happen ourselves, it doesn’t make sense to try. So we invite other builders of product in mental health to work toward this vision also. To the EHRs and practice management systems: let’s partner! Together we can deliver a better experience for our users than most will have ever imagined. To the AI platform and tool builders: let’s push each other! TheraPro doesn’t have a monopoly on the best ideas. More innovation will do nothing but good for the therapists using our products, and will no doubt open up new opportunities for us to collaborate.

And if your vision is different, so be it. You know now how we plan to build. May the best ideas win, for the sake of the therapists we serve.