Can LLMs simulate human research subjects for psychology, economics, and other fields? Today I'm headed to Vancouver for #ICML2025 to present our position paper arguing yes! We *need* AI simulations so humanity's social understanding can keep pace with technological acceleration.

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whats it called when a business is named literally the thing it does

Grateful to have our recent ICML paper covered by Stanford HAI. Humanity is building incredibly powerful AI technology that can usher in utopia or dystopia. We need human-computer interaction research, particularly with “social science tools like simulations that can keep pace.”

It’s stuff like this that makes us. It’s amazing human insight out there in the open.

I was skeptical about synthetic users—felt too far from real people. But Hugo Alves shared how a kombucha brand used them to test flavor ideas. The AI results lined up closely with real interviews. Takeaway: AI can speed the sort, humans seal the truth. #syntheticusers

Skeptical about synthetic users? Hear how a kombucha brand used them to test ideas fast: youtu.be/WLEF58EbvI8

“AI is just autocomplete.” Sure—but to autocomplete meaningfully, it has to model how humans think, act & aspire. That’s not trivial—it’s a map of human nature itself. More than math, it’s a mirror. #AI #innovation

What happens when AI doesn’t just support product design—but starts driving it? @Ugo_Alves, founder of Synthetic Users, sees a future where agent-based systems can design & prototype new products. So what role will humans play in that future? #productdesign #AI #innovation

hugo alves Watch my full conversation with Hugo Alves about the future of AI and Product Design: youtu.be/O34EKCXP_TE

We have personalities since day 0.

IMO — biggest misunderstanding in AI right now... Synthetic data isn't synthetic data. It's a cleaner version of the original data. It was named poorly.

Hay una forma de entrevistar usuarios sin preguntar. Suena a trampa, pero no lo es 👀 Durante años, entender a los usuarios ha sido un proceso lento, caro y limitado. Y aun así, muchas decisiones se toman sobre suposiciones.

De esto vino a hablarnos hugo alves, cofundador de Synthetic Users, en nuestra última Disciplina Interna de Beyond AB. Su herramienta crea “usuarios sintéticos”: perfiles generados por IA capaces de mantener entrevistas reales y ofrecer distintas perspectivas.

AI doesn’t replace human ingenuity — it amplifies it ⚡ hugo alves, co-founder of Synthetic Users, returns for Lisbon AI Week to explore how intelligent agents are shifting creation, coordination & entrepreneurship back into human hands 🤝 Join his talk: luma.com/3zfv6avq

Inspired by Quartr

Do you remember when you joined X? I do! #MyXAnniversary

Using AI personas to test messaging doesn't replace customer research. It makes you better at it. And, let’s be honest, the better a researcher you are, the better the copy you write. Think of synthetic research like a flight simulator. Pilots use simulators to practice

AI can amplify what we do. Turning us into force multipliers, capable of achieving what once required entire teams. hugo alves from Synthetic Users talks about AI agents and shares his experience as a product manager that has to wear many hats. youtu.be/CjUCPtCmNXE