Cristian Cibils Bernardes is helping people tell the most important stories of their lives. His company, Autograph, uses weekly AI-powered phone interviews to help people preserve their memories, life stories, and wisdom in real time. The idea sounds futuristic, but the motivation is deeply human: capture our voices while we still can, and pass down more than just facts to the next generation.
The voice, the context, and the emotional texture of memory matter. “Nothing is more valuable than the stories we tell ourselves,” Cibils Bernardes says. Raised in Paraguay by two entrepreneurial computer scientists, Cibils Bernardes studied Symbolic Systems at Stanford, where he focused on artificial intelligence through the lens of ethics, language, and the human mind. “I’ve always loved intelligence, but I’ve also loved asking why,” he shares. “What are the social and ethical implications of what we build?”
From Personal Loss to a Scalable Solution
The initial spark for Autograph came from a personal experience. Cibils Bernardes was preparing to interview his grandmother about her extraordinary life, from fleeing Europe during wartime to maintaining coded correspondence with her father, an MI6 agent. Just days before the interview, she suffered a stroke. “That was the trigger,” he says. “I realized that all the questions I had might never get answered.”
The moment led Cibils Bernardes to think critically about how many stories are lost simply because no one captured them in time. Combined with his technical expertise and philosophical orientation, that realization shaped Autograph, an early-stage company that reimagines journaling through AI. “Nothing is more valuable than the stories we tell ourselves,” Cibils Bernardes says. “And yet traditional journaling is difficult to maintain. Most of us struggle with the blank page.”
Turning Reflection Into Routine
Autograph works by scheduling weekly phone calls with Walter, a conversational AI historian. The process feels natural, more like a podcast interview than a formal archive. Walter begins with foundational questions such as ‘Where did you grow up?’ or ‘What was your childhood like?’ and gradually evolves into a journal that captures the present. “It’s almost passive,” Cibils Bernardes says. “You can be walking the dog, commuting, or waiting for a flight. Walter just checks in.”
Each conversation is transcribed and stored in a secure portal. Users can search, tag, and share specific memories, or simply browse the evolving map of their lives. Over time, Walter learns enough to construct an “autograph,” a digital version of the user that can provide insight to future generations. “What used to be reserved for public figures and biographers is now available to everyone,” Cibils Bernardes says with pride.
Redefining the Family Archive
Cibils Bernardes believes that modern society has undervalued emotional continuity, especially across generations. “The traditional family archive is fragmented,” he says. “There are scattered photos, voice notes, maybe some home videos. But there’s no unified thread.” Autograph addresses this by building a cohesive narrative that evolves with the user. What excites him most is the idea that, years from now, someone could ask a grandparent’s digital replica for insight into a major life decision. “You’ll be able to ask about the moment they moved continents, or how they handled a loss, and even get multiple perspectives from different family members. That richness of context is something history books can’t capture.”
The Future of Memory Is Interactive
As AI capabilities grow, so do the possibilities for Autograph. Cibils Bernardes envisions dynamic outputs such as mini documentaries, generative recreations of events, even multimedia memoirs tailored for different platforms. “Some memories will be full-length films. Others might be an Instagram reel or a narrated scene. The form will match the moment.” He is equally excited about where the technology is headed next. “What happens when we don’t have phones anymore?” he asks. “What’s the next interface? Brain-computer interactions? We’re building the foundation now for something that can grow with us.” But even amid the innovation, Cibils Bernardes is grounded in purpose. “We really do believe that every human life is a story worth remembering. Now that the technology exists, we no longer have the excuse not to preserve it.”
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