Can artificial intelligence assist in narrating your life story? That’s precisely the mission behind Autobiographer, a forward-thinking startup that utilizes AI technology to engage users in meaningful conversations about their life events and emotions, transforming these into written narratives, effectively forming personalized autobiographies.
Autobiographer ventures into a contested domain, where many have expressed concerns about AI encroaching on art, writing, and other creative fields. However, in this instance, the AI acts as a facilitator, guiding users to articulate their own stories in their own words, and later organizing this input into a cohesive format that can be exported as a PDF. Future iterations may even offer physical, bound copies. Essentially, it functions as a collaborator, rather than a replacement for creative expression.
While the app might not supplant professionally authored biographies, it presents a valuable tool for recording family histories, friendships, or creating treasured keepsakes for loved ones.
Autobiographer’s co-founder and CEO, Matt Bowman, envisions the app as a way to leave a narrative legacy for his godchildren. Before his tenure at Facebook in the Bay Area, Bowman served in the Army Special Forces, experiencing deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. These experiences, marked by significant losses, have profoundly shaped his perspective.
Bowman shares, “I have an abundance of remarkable stories from my military days — humorous, unique, and deeply touching events — many of which surfaced at the funerals of my closest friends. My task now is to synthesize these memories and share them with my godchildren.” He aims for them to learn about their father, his military life, and his personal character through these stories.
Bowman explains, “The technology has advanced to a stage where this is achievable. We can narrate these stories verbally, and transform them into beautiful mementos for those around us.”
In this endeavor, Bowman partnered with James Barnes, another former Facebook employee who was among the first to identify the issues surrounding the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. Post-Facebook, Barnes founded a Super PAC to oppose Trump and discovered the reflective capabilities of AI while experimenting with OpenAI’s GPT-3, which assisted him in processing significant life events.
“AI provided an incredible capacity for reflection, allowing me to understand my story and experiences,” Barnes remarks.
Although Barnes and Bowman did not overlap at Facebook, they connected in San Francisco last year. Barnes, needing military expertise for his team’s experiments with AI storytelling (which includes co-founders Luke Schoenfelder and Ivan Almaral), found alignment with Bowman’s goals and shared interests, including a fascination with psychedelic medicine.
“Exploring consciousness was a significant point of connection for us,” Barnes explains. “As we tackle these practical elements, we also consider how our platform can facilitate introspective and abstract personal work,” he adds.
To utilize the app, users engage in dialogues with an AI agent built on Anthropic technology, which prompts storytelling. For example, an initial prompt may ask users to recount an adventure, emphasizing that there are no right or wrong answers. Users can narrate their stories, pause and resume recordings, or switch topics as they wish.
All memories are securely stored in a biometrically protected, encrypted vault, inaccessible even to Autobiographer’s staff.
“One of our core values, recognized by James, Luke, Ivan, and me, is that users must feel confident their cherished and emotionally sensitive stories are not visible to anyone, including our backend engineers,” Bowman asserts.
The app enables users to revisit topics, explore memories, and transform them into various prose forms, such as short stories or gratitude letters. Currently, these outputs are PDFs, but the team aspires to offer printed books in the future.
Autobiographer is priced at $199 per year, a more affordable option compared to hiring a ghostwriter, yet its cost may deter some potential users.
Additionally, the company has teamed with journalist Katie Couric, who will act as a promotional partner for the startup, though her role is still being finalized.
Established three and a half years ago, Autobiographer has undergone several transformations, with the latest app version, launching today, being developed over the past year.
Backed by $4 million in pre-seed funding from various investors, Autobiographer continues to evolve, offering innovative ways for individuals to document and share their life stories.
