Show HN: The Answering Machine – A screenless AI phone for kids with questions

[tdaltonc]

I built an AI voice agent inside a retro orange rotary phone for my 4-year-old. He picks up the handset, asks a question, and gets a spoken answer. No screen; no app; the phone is the whole interface. Behind the scenes, a set of AI agents process the conversations and recommend books, outings, and activities to parents based on what their kid(s) is curious about. The idea is to turn a child's questions into real-world experiences (library books, construction site visits, tide pool trips) without anyone having to plan a curriculum.

67 MODE: There's also a privacy mode (dial 67) for older kids to ask questions they might not want to discuss with their parents. Safety guardrails still apply, but no summaries are shared. Hardware is a Grandstream ATA bridging an analog phone to Cartesia's voice API + Claude. The philosophical write-up is at the link above; the technical README is at https://github.com/TDaltonC/the-answering-machine.

[anteloper]

67 Mode is the greatest callback to 90's prank calls (I assume that was the intent - and if so chef's kiss with how it ties into the current status of 67)

[tdaltonc]

The coincidence that *67 (the 90's caller ID blocker) and 67 (the inscrutable middle schooler meme) are the same makes me believe in meme magic.

[venachescu]

This looks amazing! Is there a number hooked up to demo this out? Would love to send this to my nieces and nephews!

[tdaltonc]

Sure! These should work until the free credits from the hackathon run out:

You can call the main agent at: [phone]

You can call the 67 agent at: [phone]

You can call the parents agent at: [phone]

[mlandolfi]

Incredible project, others have already pointed it out but the 67 double meaning is perfect

[mmayberry]

I would buy one of these!

[roycebranning]

*67 meets 411