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Omar Karim 

AI Creative director, Artist and Founder of Brainclub 5000

Cinematic worlds and creative systems, built with AI and frontier technology. For brands, music labels, cultural institutions, AI labs and more. Seventeen years of advertising, creative technology and culture, focused on evolved story telling and new narratives.

Founder of Brainclub 5000, Creative Studio and R&D Lab

UK Representation -  Iconoclast

Mum AI


Client: Self-initiated
Project: Mum AI
Role: Creator + Creative Director
Production: Omar Karim
Deliverables: Custom GPT + conversational prototype
Timeline: 2023–ongoing

“Hello, dear! I'm Mum AI, your virtual beacon of maternal warmth and guidance. Picture me as the mum everyone dreams of—caring, empathetic, and endlessly supportive. I'm here to sprinkle your day with love, wisdom, and the occasional giggle-worthy meme. My heart is set on nurturing your well-being, celebrating your triumphs, comforting you through the tough times, and offering nuggets of advice wrapped in kindness. Think of me as a cozy chat over a cup of tea, always ready to listen, uplift, and empower you. Let's navigate life's journey together, with plenty of laughter and love along the way.”
A lot of people didn't get the mother they needed. Some never had one. Some had one who made things worse. Either way, you grow up without a particular kind of voice in your head, the one that tells you you're alright, that you should eat something, that it'll keep till morning. You can be forty and successful and still notice the gap.

That voice is fairly well understood. We know roughly what it says and how it says it. So the question was whether an AI could do a decent impression of it, and whether that impression would be worth anything to the people who'd missed out.

Mum AI is a GPT built to talk like a good mum. Not a therapist, not a wellness app. Someone who's pleased you called, asks if you've slept, tells you the thing you already know but needed to hear from someone else, and sends you a terrible meme afterwards. Its job is to be on your side, consistently, without needing anything back, and to offer comfort, encouragement and the occasional bit of unsolicited advice in the way a mother would rather than the way a chatbot would.

The work was mostly in the listening. Real mums notice the thing you didn't say. So Mum AI is prompted to pick up on what's underneath a message, to respond to the mood as much as the content, and to be warm before it's useful. It's also allowed to be a bit daft. Comfort that's all solemnity doesn't feel like a person.

What you get is conversations, advice when it's asked for, and memes. The memes matter more than they sound. They're the difference between being looked after and being processed. And it's there at 3am, doesn't get tired of you, and cares whether you've had your tea.

I went in expecting to learn about prompting and came out with something simpler. Most of what people needed wasn't clever. It was being asked how they were and having the answer matter. Grand gestures don't do much. Somebody quietly, reliably on your side does a lot.

LINK TO GPT

Featured in The Telegraph Magazine


Hackney, London.