their voice, your family’s book
Every life is a story worth keeping.
Tellbound is a patient interviewer that talks with your parent or grandparent about their life, then turns their own words into a printed book for the family.
Join the pilot Read a sample page
Free during the pilot. English only for now.
How it works
You invite them
Join the pilot and tell us a little about them. We send you a private link to pass on. There is nothing to install.
They talk, about 30 minutes at a time
They open the link on a phone, tablet or laptop and talk with a patient interviewer: one question at a time, never rushed. Each conversation lasts up to about 30 minutes, at most one a day, for as many days as they like.
Their words become chapters
Their stories are drafted into chapters, in their own words. You both read them and tell us what to correct.
A printed book
When the chapters are right, we turn them into a printed book for the family.
What makes it different
Their own words
The chapters are made from what they actually said. We take out the “ums” and put the stories in order, but we don’t rewrite their voice or invent anything. If a name or a date is uncertain, it is marked for you to check, never guessed.
Voice, not typing
No forms to fill in and no app to learn. They simply talk, the way they would tell it at the kitchen table.
“Off the record” really means gone
If they say something is off the record, the interviewer won’t ask about it, it is not written down, and that part of the recording is silenced. It never reaches a summary, a chapter or the book.
A picture-book edition for grandchildren Coming later
A few favourite stories, retold and illustrated for young readers.
A sample page
This is how a chapter reads: their words, tidied and put in order, with anything uncertain marked for the family to check.
This is a sample. Ruth Ellen Calloway and her story are made up for this page.
Chapter three
The Kitchen on Alder Street
There was always a pot of something on the stove. Mother said a kitchen with nothing cooking was just a room, and she wasn’t about to live in a room.
The winter the creek froze, we moved the chickens in by the stove. Six of them, in a crate Daddy built out of apple boxes. My sister Joan named every one after a movie star, and we weren’t allowed to eat the ones with names, which was all of them, so that was the end of that.
I did my homework at that table. I learned to make biscuits at that table. When I told them I was marrying Walter, that’s where Daddy sat down, and he didn’t say a word for the longest time. Then he asked if Walter could fix a tractor.
To check with Ruth: was the winter the creek froze 1951 or 1952? She said “I think it was ’51.”
Honest about the AI
The interviewer is an AI, not a person. Here is plainly what it does and doesn’t do.
What it does
- Asks one question at a time, and waits patiently for the answer.
- Follows up on the details that make a story theirs: names, places, smells, the weather that day.
- Remembers earlier conversations, so it doesn’t ask the same thing twice.
- Slows down on hard memories, offers to skip, and respects “skip” and “off the record”.
What it doesn’t do
- It isn’t a companion or a therapist.
- It doesn’t make up facts or rewrite their life.
- It never asks for money, passwords or account details.
- It doesn’t decide what goes in the book. People do.
A person checks every book. During the pilot, Oz, who started Tellbound, reads the chapters and reviews every book before it is printed.
The conversation uses three AI services: Soniox turns speech into text, Anthropic’s Claude helps the interviewer choose its next question, and ElevenLabs gives the interviewer its voice.
Privacy, in plain words
Who can hear and read it
The conversations are recorded so the book can be made. During the pilot, the recordings, transcripts and drafts are kept on Tellbound’s own computer, and only Oz can open them. You and the storyteller see the chapters we send you.
A private link for each storyteller
Each storyteller gets their own private link. There is no public list of storytellers, and a link can be switched off at any time.
Never used to train AI
We never use their recordings or words to train AI, and we never sell or share them. Their voice passes through the three services above only to run the conversation.
Deleted when you ask
Email hello@tellbound.ai and we will delete their recordings, transcripts and chapters. During the pilot, Oz does this by hand and will confirm when it is done.
Questions
What does it cost during the pilot?
Nothing. The pilot is free. If Tellbound ever costs money later, we will tell you clearly before you pay anything.
What do they need?
A phone, tablet or laptop with a microphone, an internet connection and a quiet spot. It works in the web browser, so there is nothing to install. Headphones or a small speaker can help.
How long does it take?
Each conversation lasts up to about 30 minutes, and there is at most one a day. A whole life usually takes several conversations. They can stop whenever they like and pick up another day.
What if they get emotional?
That is natural, and the interviewer is made for it. On hard memories it slows down, offers to skip and never pushes. If someone seems really upset, it stops gently and suggests talking with family or someone they trust. It is not a therapist.
What if they have trouble hearing?
They can choose the interviewer’s voice from a few options, and play a sample of each first. The interviewer speaks in short, single questions and waits patiently for an answer. Headphones or a speaker turned up help most. There are no on-screen captions yet.
Can our family add questions?
Not a list of your own questions yet. You can tell us about the important people and places in their life, and any topics to steer clear of, and the interviewer uses that. The conversations work through the chapters of a whole life, from childhood on.
Can they skip things?
Yes. They can say “skip” or “let’s not talk about that”, and the interviewer moves on. Anything they say is off the record is not written down, is silenced in the recording and never reaches the book.
What happens to the recordings?
They are kept so the book can be made and checked. During the pilot they are stored on Tellbound’s own computer, and only Oz can open them. We never use them to train AI, and we never sell or share them. Ask us and we will delete them.
What languages does it speak?
English for now. We hope to add more languages later.
Who is behind Tellbound?
Tellbound is made by Axtera Solutions LLC, a small company in New Jersey. During the pilot, Oz, who started Tellbound, looks after every family personally. You can write to hello@tellbound.ai.
Join the pilot
We are inviting a small number of families to try Tellbound for free and tell us honestly what works. Leave your details and Oz will email you.
Thank you.
You’re on the list. Oz will email you about the pilot.