Questions and answers

Aks is a place to record your life story, your values and the way you talk, in your own words and voice, so the people you love can ask you questions and hear real answers, today and years from now.

No. Aks answers only from what you actually said. When nothing you recorded covers a question, it says so rather than making something up. Aks is a way to keep and share your words, not a replacement for you.

Anyone who wants to be known by the people they love: grandparents and parents recording stories for their children and grandchildren, and families who want to keep those stories together in one private place.

No. You build your own profile, while you're here to choose what goes in it. Aks never collects information about you from the internet.

However suits you: answer guided interview questions out loud or by typing, just talk freely, keep a short daily log, add stories, photos and videos, or talk with Viora, the voice guide, who can ask you questions. You can also add your own messages from a WhatsApp chat you export.

No. Skip anything and it waits for later. There's no deadline: most people add a little at a time, over months or years.

Yes. You can edit any answer, fix a transcript where the microphone misheard you, or delete a recording, story or photo at any time.

Viora saves what you tell her about your life, word for word, as a private note. Nothing from those notes is shared with your family or used in answers until you review it and choose “Keep”.

You invite them by email. The invitation link works once, only for that email address, and expires after 7 days. Nobody can find your profile by searching: the only way in is your invitation.

Yes: straight away, from a date you choose, or only after your profile has been preserved. You can see everyone who has access and remove anyone at any moment.

Browse what you've recorded: your answers, recordings, stories, photos and videos. With the Chat plan they can also ask you questions, and with the Voice plan they can hear the replies in your voice and talk out loud.

No, their conversations are private to them. The one thing that reaches you is a question about your life that nothing you recorded could answer: it's passed to you with the name of whoever asked, so you can answer it. Only that question, never the rest of their conversation, and they're told this happens.

Yes. When you answer a question someone asked, you choose who hears it: everyone, only the person who asked, or people you pick.

No. Every reply is checked against what you actually recorded before anyone sees it. Aks never invents facts, events, names, dates or memories, and never gives medical, legal or financial advice in your name. If it can't answer honestly, it says so.

Every reply is labelled. “Their words” means it comes from something you said, with a link to the original, and often your recording. If you allow it, Aks may also reply “in their style” when you never talked about something but your values make the answer clear; those replies are always labelled as a guess, never as something you said.

Yes. You can ask your own profile anything, exactly the way your family would, and see every reply before you invite anyone.

If you choose to create your voice, yes. It's made from your own recordings, only after you read and record a consent statement, and you can listen to it, change its pace or accent, or remake it.

Your voice only speaks replies that passed the same checks as the written ones, and every reply is labelled the same way. If you'd rather it didn't speak at all, don't create it, or delete it.

Only you and the people you invite, when you've said their access begins. There are no public profiles and nothing is searchable.

Your recordings, photos and words are stored encrypted, in private storage. Links to your audio and photos are temporary and expire after a short time. Every request is checked on our servers against who you've invited.

A few trusted providers do specific jobs: Amazon Web Services stores your data, turns speech into text and runs the app; Anthropic's Claude understands questions and writes replies from your words; Voyage AI helps find the right parts of your story; ElevenLabs makes your voice, if you create one. Emails come from noreply@aksstory.com.

Yes, at any time: your recordings, photos and transcripts in one file you keep. Aks is built so your story is always yours to take with you.

Yes, from Profile, then Your account. It deletes everything, for good: your recordings, stories, photos, voice, every conversation with your profile, and your family's access. Encrypted backups are erased within 35 days.

Your family keep their access. Everything you recorded becomes read-only, so nothing can ever be added or changed in your name.

Someone you trust to look after your profile one day. While you're alive they can see and do nothing. Later they can invite or remove family and download everything, but they can never edit or add to what you recorded.

Your Legacy Contact has to provide proof, and then there's a 14-day waiting period. During it you can cancel at any time, and anyone in your family can object, which puts everything on hold.

Aks is free while it's being tested, and everyone starts on the Voice plan, with everything included. There are three plans: Browse (free) to see what's been recorded, Chat to also ask questions, and Voice to also hear replies in their voice. Family members choose their own plan; the person whose story it is decides only who is invited and when.

Each plan includes everything in the one before it:

Browse is free, and is enough to see and hear everything they recorded. Chat is for asking them things. Voice is for hearing them answer, and talking together.

Yours. The plan belongs to the person using it, and it covers every story shared with you. The person who invited you decides who can see their story and when, never which plan you need. You never need a plan to see or try out your own story.

Choose “Change plan” on the Family stories page, or go to Profile, then Your account. While Aks is being tested, switching is free and takes effect straight away.

On the sign-in page, choose “Forgot your password?”. We'll email you a code from noreply@aksstory.com; enter it with a new password and you're signed straight in.

Emails can take a minute, and the first ones from a new address sometimes land in junk or spam. Check there, and mark it “Not junk” so the next ones arrive. You can always ask for a new code.

Yes, in your phone's browser. On iPhone and iPad, tap the button each time you want to speak: Apple only lets websites listen after a tap.