Business Finance Media Technology Policy Wealth Insights Interviews

Art Art Fairs Art Market Art Reviews Auctions Galleries Museums Interviews

Lifestyle Nightlife & Dining Style Travel Interviews

Power Index Nightlife & Dining Art A.I. PR

About About Observer Advertise With Us Reprints

Self-Help Expert Mark Manson Creates App to Bridge A.I.’s Mental Health Gap

Mark Manson’s new app Purpose aims to turn A.I. into a practical mentor for modern self-help.

Ten years after publishing The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, bestselling author and blogger mark manson is turning to A.I. to tackle some of his audience’s toughest life questions. He recently co-founded Purpose, an A.I.-powered mentor designed to deliver practical life advice—something Manson says most general chatbots, like ChatGPT, aren’t built to do.

Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

Manson is also known for Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope and for co-authoring Will with actor Will Smith, a memoir chronicling the celebrity’s personal struggles and growth. He began his career in 2008, launching a blog shortly after graduating from Boston University. What started as a dating advice column quickly evolved into a platform for deeper reflections on happiness, success and modern self-help. That blog would launch Manson’s publishing career and, over time, earn him nearly two million followers on Instagram.

Since A.I. entered the mainstream, Manson has been bullish on its potential to enhance the way people seek guidance. After exploring ways to enter the market, including the possibility of acquiring an existing company, he chose instead to build something new with tech entrepreneur Raj Singh, founder of the Google-backed hospitality startup Go Moment. Singh’s company was later acqui-hired by Revinate in 2021; after leaving in 2024, he turned his focus to mental health technology. Purpose’s engineering lead, William Kearns, formerly headed A.I. at meditation and wellness platform Headspace.

Purpose has launched both a website and an iOS app, with an Android version expected later this month. So far, roughly 50,000 people have joined the platform, with about one in four paying for a premium subscription that costs $20 per month or $150 annually.

Observer spoke with Manson about mental health safety, what A.I. gets right and wrong in the advice space, and where the line truly lies between mentorship and therapy.

The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 

How did you........

© Observer