Think about your mother, best friend, or perhaps a colleague. It's hard to know everything, but sometimes all it takes is asking a few questions, and a new form of artificial intelligence wants to make it easier than ever to understand people and their stories.
Autobiographer is among the first offerings in the app store that leverages AI to transcribe people's memories into epic stories -- like chapters in memoirs -- that can be passed down for generations.
"Everyone has a story to tell," said Autobiographer CEO Matt Bowman in a May press release. "We created Autobiographer to help people discover, preserve, and share their unique life experiences. Our app is like having a personal biographer in your pocket, ready to listen and capture your most meaningful moments."
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While artificial intelligence is the foundation of this transcription app, Autobiographer has not lost its human-first approach. The brand has partnered with award-winning journalist and redeemed author Katie Couric to help people share their stories.
"I've always believed in the power of storytelling to connect us and inspire us," explained Couric. "Autobiographer is doing something remarkable by making it easy for anyone to capture their life story."
The app is available in the United States and can be purchased in the app store or gifted to a loved one.
Upon downloading the app, users are asked for their basic information and led to a dusky background with a floating iceberg-like-rock and an arrow with text reading, "memories ready to be explored."
Recording starts as soon as you press start. A gentle voice called the 'Guide' begins asking leading questions. The initial queries begin with some open-ended prompts along the lines of "Give me a broad overview of your life," and then more specific probes like "How did you feel when that happened?" and "What did you learn from that moment?"
After each conversation with your Guide, Autobiographer crafts a written story that can be accessed via the app's "Vault." Users can refine and customize these memories as they wish -- with the goal in mind of building a complete memoir they can leave behind. The more questions answered, the longer the story gets, with the potential of reaching up to 50,000 words.
Stories are easily accessible, but privacy is also paramount. Encryption and FaceID biometric protection are employed to ensure all sensitive, personal information stays secure. The brand does not store any data beyond individual sessions.
It might sound a bit mystifying, or perhaps futuristic -- but it's very real and available for just $16.50 a month or $199 a year.
It was a quiet Wednesday afternoon in the office, and I downloaded and set up Autobiographer in just a few minutes. Then, I handed my phone to my colleague, P.J. McCormick to put it to the test.
It didn't take him too long to get used to the interface. It's rather intuitive (after all, it's built so a grandparent could easily navigate it).
Mccormick's first task was simple -- catch the guide up to speed on his life. He spoke fondly about his childhood in a suburban town near St. Paul Minnesota, and then transformative relocations to cosmopolitan cities like London and New York. He mentioned his love for music and intrigue with fast-moving city life.
Autobiographer took note. Questions began getting more personal, pinpointing the motivations behind his choices -- like how strict his parents were as a kid, why he chose to attend a small liberal arts school, and what factors influenced him to join an Indie Rock band.
"Wow, this is pretty good," he said with a chuckle between questions. The hushed voice spent around 30 seconds generating new questions after McCormick answered, leaving him with just enough time to mull over his responses.
McCormick spoke on, and within fifteen minutes, two chapters of his life had already been written, the first aptly titled, "An unconventional Indie Rocker's Journey." He was exceptionally impressed with Autobiographer's ability to eloquently, and succinctly put his life into words.
"I found the questions surprisingly considerate and thoughtful and (the voice) did seem like it was responding in real time to my prompts as opposed to providing pre-determined questions," he explained. "The voice was probing -- yet respectful when we pushed the boundaries."
McCormick admitted that if he spent even more time answering, he could imagine getting somewhat emotional, "If I spent more time with it and it went beyond the basics, I can see how the app would lead to more introspection."
He thoroughly enjoyed the experience, though he'd hardly even made a dent in the Vault, which can record hours of conversations. It may seem like a lot of time, but it's "pretty fun," as he admits, and it's a great way to understand someone, and even yourself, a bit better.
After all, the founders' guiding belief is that "the world's best stories are within us -- they just haven't been discovered yet."
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