I Built an AI Because I Hate Making Phone Calls

When I was a kid, I thought prank calling strangers was hilarious. Until one of them called back.

I still remember that afternoon. I was maybe 10 or 11 years old, sitting in my room with that mischievous grin kids get when they're doing something they shouldn't. I'd dial random numbers and say something silly, then hang up, giggling uncontrollably.

Until the phone rang.

Someone had traced the number. An angry adult voice on the other end, scolding me, threatening to call my parents. I don't remember the exact words, but I remember the feeling: pure, paralyzing shame. My heart pounding. The receiver suddenly feeling like it weighed a hundred pounds.

I guess that was the moment that planted the seed of my phonephobia.

Living with Phone Anxiety

As I grew up, the fear never left. It evolved. Mutated. What started as shame transformed into something more insidious: a constant, low-grade dread whenever I needed to make a call.

You probably know the feeling. That moment when you need to call a restaurant for a reservation, and you find yourself staring at the phone for five minutes, rehearsing what you're going to say. Or when you need to schedule a doctor's appointment, and you keep putting it off — day after day, week after week — until it becomes urgent.

Now it extensively incapacitates my life.

I've missed opportunities. Delayed medical care. Avoided restaurants that don't have online booking. All because picking up the phone feels like climbing a mountain.

I once let a small cavity turn into deep caries because I couldn't bring myself to call the dentist. By the time I finally went, it required expensive treatment that could have been avoided with a simple phone call months earlier. That's the real cost of phone anxiety — not just discomfort, but actual consequences.

And here's the thing: I know I'm not alone. Studies consistently show that the majority of millennials and Gen Z experience some form of phone anxiety. We're an entire generation that would rather text, email, or use an app — anything to avoid picking up the phone.

But we don't talk about it. It feels embarrassing. Silly. "Just make the call" — as if it were that simple.

The Lost Decade

For years, I waited for someone else to solve this problem.

When Google announced Duplex in 2018 — an AI that could make restaurant reservations over the phone — I was ecstatic. Finally! The future was here. Someone at a massive tech company had recognized that phone calls were a problem worth solving.

I waited. And waited.

Years passed. Duplex remained limited to specific businesses in specific locations. Apple never released anything similar. Other tech giants stayed silent. The dream of never making a phone call again remained just that — a dream.

I lost all hope after a decade of waiting.

By 2025, I realized: if the giants won't build it, maybe I should.

The "Aha" Moment

The technology landscape had shifted. Large Language Models like GPT had proven they could handle complex, natural conversations. Voice synthesis had reached a point where AI voices were nearly indistinguishable from humans. Real-time speech recognition was fast and accurate.

All the pieces were there. Someone just needed to put them together.

So I started building. At first, just for myself — a personal tool to escape the phone calls I dreaded. I connected an LLM to a voice synthesis engine, integrated it with Twilio for real phone calls, and built a simple Telegram interface to give it instructions.

The first time it successfully booked a restaurant reservation for me, I literally laughed out loud. It worked. It actually worked.

And then came the realization that changed everything:

People like me can be a lot. Why not help others?

If I had spent years suffering from phone anxiety, putting off important calls, missing opportunities — how many others were doing the same? Millions? Tens of millions?

That's when KallyAI stopped being a personal project and became a mission.

How KallyAI Works

The premise is simple: you text, we talk.

Open KallyAI in Telegram (no app download needed), and tell it what you need in plain language:

• "Book a table for 2 at La Maison tonight at 8pm"
• "Schedule a checkup with Dr. Garcia for next week"
• "Call the hotel and ask about late checkout"

The AI confirms the details with you, then places the actual phone call. It speaks naturally, handles follow-up questions, and navigates the conversation like a human would.

When it's done, you get the results: a confirmation, a summary, and a full transcript if you want to review what was said.

No more rehearsing scripts. No more dreading the dial tone. No more putting things off because making a call feels like too much.

Join Me

If you've ever felt your heart race before dialing a number...

If you've put off that doctor's appointment for weeks because calling felt overwhelming...

If you've chosen restaurants based on whether they have online booking...

You're not alone. And now there's a solution.

I built KallyAI for myself first. But I'm sharing it because I know how much it would have meant to me, all those years ago, to have someone — or something — that could make those calls for me.

Try it. Your first 5 calls are free. No credit card, no commitment. Just text what you need, and let the AI handle the rest.

Because life's too short to spend it dreading phone calls.