At Motives, we often hear one question: "Are people actually willing to talk to an AI interviewer?" Especially when it comes to video interviews, there's understandable skepticism about whether anyone would feel comfortable having a heart-to-heart with artificial intelligence.

We’ve taken this really seriously since the beginning - in classic lean startup fashion, our MVP was our CTO Sam pretending to be an AI: we told participants to join a Zoom call and that they’d be interviewed by an AI in the chat, while Sam (with his camera off) copy/pasted their responses from the transcription into ChatGPT, and then copy/pasted those back. Despite the obvious limitations of this first version, participants already seemed comfortable enough for us to proceed with more development

From those humble beginnings, we’ve built a fully featured AI moderator for video calls: it speaks out loud and has a natural-feeling conversation with participants, who are themselves speaking out loud the whole time just like they’re joining a regular  video call.

And their reactions have surprised even us. Not only are people willing to talk to our AI interviewer - they genuinely enjoy it. Recent feedback from participants tells the story:

  • "It felt like speaking to a real person. I was impressed by the responses and how naturally the conversation flowed."
  • "The interview was much better than I anticipated. The questions and follow-up actually aligned with what I was saying."
  • "It was very relaxing, and I felt free to say whatever without having anybody judge me."

The Power of a Judgment-Free Zone

That last point highlights something fascinating about AI interviewers: they create a unique, neutral space where people feel safe being completely honest.

We’ve found that people have consistently reported being more honest in our AI-moderated interviews than they might be with a human moderator.

This effect shows up consistently across various sensitive topics:

  • Private health discussions
  • Personal finance conversations
  • Brutally honest product feedback
  • General personal matters

On reflection, this makes sense - the AI can create a neutral space where participants can feel more comfortable expressing their true thoughts and feelings. There's no need to worry about impressing the interviewer or managing their reactions.

It also takes away worries about mismatches between the backgrounds of the interviewees and the moderators - for example, imagine a young person interviewing seniors about their personal finance struggles.  An AI moderator creates a space where participants feel acknowledged, without the shadow of human subjectivity or bias.

The Difference Real Conversation Makes

Not all AI interviews are created equal. Motives conducts real video conversations where people can speak naturally, just as they would with a human interviewer.

Most other “AI researchers” rely on (or primarily utilize) text-based chat.

This difference matters. As one recent participant explained:

"I've taken other interviews before with AI. But those felt computerized and difficult to understand - just typing back and forth. This was different. When I'm talking here, it really feels like I'm talking with a real person because everything feels so humanized. The voice, the responses, the natural flow of conversation... I really need this kind of interaction."

Many people claim they've tested AI researcher and found that they "don't work." Almost always, they're referring to to text-based moderators.

Seeing a video-call-based AI moderator changes everything: the ability to speak naturally, hear a warm, responsive voice, and engage in authentic dialogue creates a a transformative experience. A real spoken conversation lets people to focus on their thoughts rather than their writing, encouraging open an authentic self-expression that leads to richer insights.

One question we often get: No, the AI isn’t a creepy, overly lifelike 3D rendering of a fake human. It’s simply a minimal avatar that smiles and blinks as it speaks. In our testing, this strikes the perfect balance—human enough to make the conversation feel natural, but far from the discomfort of the uncanny valley.

Why This Matters for Research

Getting genuinely honest feedback is one of the biggest challenges in qualitative research. Social dynamics, politeness, and the desire to avoid conflict can all get in the way of uncovering real insights.

AI interviewers offer a solution to this challenge. By creating a space where people feel comfortable being completely candid, we can gather deeper, more authentic insights about everything from product concepts to personal experiences.

And with the quality of the interviews being so good, you can then take advantage of all of the other benefits of AI-led qualitative research: rapid speed and much larger scale.

It's not just a more effective way to conduct research - it's also a more pleasant experience for everyone involved.

Interested in seeing how AI interviews could help you gather more authentic insights? Let's talk about how Motives can support your research goals.