Anonymous chat app, Candid, releases on Android and iOS

Uses AI to keep conversations civil and on-topic

Anonymous chat apps are nothing new, but many of them suffer from one overarching theme: trolls. When giving anonymity, people can either show great levels of understanding or great levels of hatefulness. The sad truth is, that many people will take their newfound anonymity and use it to troll and belittle others when given the chance. One startup, Candid, is attempting to eliminate that type of conversation in their newly launched chat app.

After using the beta of Candid for a couple weeks, this writer was surprised at just how civil everyone was to each other. Turns out that that line of thought wasn't entirely accurate, and that Candid was working some magic on the backend to make it happen. By using AI, Candid is able to autonomously eliminate posts and replies that are filled with hate speech and derogatory comments. The AI will even move out of place topics to their appropriate sections, reducing clutter.

The app assigns users with a random name whenever they post to a new topic, names like "GraciousGoat" and "FriendlyAardvark," meaning you'll never know who you're talking to from post to post. The app is broken down into different categories like Politics, Sports, Television, and a multitude of others. You create posts in these different topics and people discuss through comment threads.

The only thing that stays with you from post to post are the badges you earn through participating in conversation. There are are even badges that are awarded to those cantankerous types, the ones who seem to start an argument over nothing, aptly titled the "Hater" badge. These badges are also awarded through the use of AI.

If there is one problem with Candid it's that it requires a phone number to sign up. While no one can see that number, it's just surprising that something so personal is required to sign up. Then there's the issue of connecting to Facebook, but luckily that is not a requirement.

Candid is available on both iOS and Android.