Off until you say otherwise
Simply Stories is a complete product with AI turned off. Every AI feature is opt-in for your team — turn on what helps, skip what does not, and change your mind anytime. Nothing on this page is required.
Optional AI
Ask the Story. Get an answer, or an honest “we do not know.”
Simply Stories works without AI, and every AI feature is optional and off until a curator turns it on. Ask the Story answers a question from material already approved for the person asking, and always shows the source behind its answer — it never guesses at family history.
The ground rules
Four things that stay true, whatever you switch on.
AI in Simply Stories was built the way we would want it used on our own team: opt-in, supervised, explainable, and governed with visible usage.
People decide; people answer
Ask Simply proposes — a person approves before anything changes. The website assistant answers — and hands the conversation to your team the moment someone asks for a person. AI here extends your people; it never replaces them.
Answers show their work
Ask Simply cites the records behind every answer and previews every change before it happens. Website conversations land in your inbox with a per-answer trace for admins. Usage is metered visibly, and spending caps are on by default.
Your permissions are the AI’s permissions
Ask Simply can only see what the signed-in person is allowed to see — enforced by the platform, not by the AI’s good manners. The website assistant knows only the information you connect. It all runs on the same AWS infrastructure as the rest of Simply Stories, and your data is never used to train AI models.
Flavor one — for your team
Ask Simply: the colleague who read everything.
Ask the Story answers only from material already approved for the person asking, cites the source behind every answer, and tells you plainly when the record does not say.
“Which Moments mention the family farm?”
An answer built from approved Moments and Sources, with a link back to the photograph, document, or recording behind each one.
“What do we actually know about Grandma’s crossing in 1948?”
The approved Claims tied to that Moment, with their sources — or an honest “we do not know” when the record is not there yet.
“Summarize what contributors added to the Ashford chapter this week.”
A plain-language summary of the pending submissions, so a curator can review a week’s contributions in minutes instead of opening each one cold.
“What places connect to Uncle Walter’s Navy years?”
The approved Places and Moments tied to that person, with sources — a starting point for a family visit or a reunion conversation.
“Which approved claims are not placed in a chapter yet?”
A list of curator-approved material still waiting for a home in the Story, so nothing approved gets forgotten.
“Who are the people in this photograph, and where was it taken?”
An answer from the People and Places already linked to that photo’s approved record — never a guess dressed up as history.
From the big numbers to the missing-form chase to drafting the next page — if it lives in Simply Stories, you can ask about it in plain language. See Ask Simply live in a demo
On the go
Your whole system, in a back pocket.
Simply Anywhere is not part of Simply Stories today — Ask the Story lives inside the responsive Story website, open from any invited member’s phone browser rather than a native app.
Chat turns out to be the perfect mobile interface for a system like this: no menus to hunt through, no laptop to open — just the question, the cited answer, and the approval, wherever the work is happening.
The full Ask Simply, inside the Simply Anywhere appSame permissions, sources, and approvals as your deskAsk for the number on the way into the meetingReview and approve proposed changes from anywhereYour records, messages, and notifications ride along
Flavor two — for the people you serve
A website that answers back — honestly.
Simply Stories does not have a public visitor widget — the Story stays private to the family or community members your curators invite. An invited member can still ask Ask the Story a question from inside the private website, with anything it cannot answer routed to your curators.
“Is there a photo of the old house before it was sold?”
An answer from the approved Sources tied to that Place, or an honest “not yet” if no approved photo exists.
“I have a letter that might belong in this chapter — what do I do?”
A pointer to the contribution form, so the letter reaches a curator for review instead of staying in an email attachment.
“What does the Story say about a living relative?”
Anything about a living person’s privacy or a sensitive family matter goes straight to a person your family trusts — a curator, not an automatic answer.
“Where do I even start reading?”
A pointer to the Story’s chapters in the order a curator organized them, so a new member is not left searching a database cold.
Sound like a trusted family member helping someone find their place in the Story — warm, plain-spoken, and quick to hand a sensitive question to a curator rather than guess.
The assistant is always honest about being an assistant, and a human is always one ask away — because the fastest way to lose someone’s trust is to fake a person.
Your assistant, your rules
Customization, control, and a paper trail.
A public assistant speaks for you, so you hold the controls — what it knows, how it sounds, and what it is never allowed to do.
It sounds like you
Guidance and voice settings — tone, words to use, words to avoid, example answers — teach the assistant your way of speaking. Each widget can also choose a deeper or faster AI model.
It knows what you connect — nothing else
You choose the pages, knowledge articles, and workflows behind each widget. It answers from those, says so when it does not know, and cannot wander into data you did not connect.
Real actions, same safeguards
When a visitor submits connected private-beta intake, the assistant uses the same verified forms and review rules as the rest of your site. It cannot write to your data any other way.
People, one ask away
Visitors can reach your team at any point, and the assistant escalates on its own when it is unsure or the topic is sensitive. Conversations land in your inbox with full context — and offline hours are handled honestly.
Every conversation, visible
Your team can read every conversation, see what the assistant consulted for each answer, test changes before publishing, and measure satisfaction — including the questions it could not answer, so you know what to publish next.
Costs with a ceiling
AI usage is metered transparently with spending caps on by default. Private-beta participants review enabled AI surfaces and their usage posture before activation.
Honest answers
If you never turn AI on, Simply Stories is still Simply Stories.
Deciding what belongs in the Story, and anything about a living relative, stays with your family’s curators — Ask the Story only answers from what a curator has already approved.
And if you do turn it on, it stays optional forever — feature by feature, widget by widget, with visible usage and spending caps.
What’s included
Website conversation widgets
Let visitors ask for help from your website and keep the handoff attached to the page and topic they came from.
See how family and community curators use this
- Visitors can ask questions and get answers grounded in your configured views and knowledge.
- A conversation can hand off into a form — from question to signup in one thread.
- Transcripts keep the context when a human follows up.
Add-on$29/mo per live conversation widget.
Ask Simply help inside the app
Ask Simply helps the curators understand records, draft copy, and move faster inside the app.
See how family and community curators use this
- "What is this record, and what should I do next?" can be answered inside the app.
- First drafts of messages and copy can start from your real data.
Included with allowancePaid plans include monthly AI credit sized to the plan; trials include trial credits.
Pricing details
- Budget caps stay on by default, and larger prepaid AI credit packs are available when you need more.
AI help for website copy
Draft, refine, and rework website copy while keeping human review in the publishing flow.
See how family and community curators use this
- A page can start from a solid AI draft and still get the human pass it deserves.
- Rewrites for tone and length happen inside the editor.
Included with allowancePaid plans include monthly AI credit sized to the plan; trials include trial credits.
Pricing details
- Budget caps stay on by default, and larger prepaid AI credit packs are available when you need more.
AI translations
Translate team-authored content where multilingual presentation matters, with language costs disclosed before activation.
See how family and community curators use this
- Public content can carry additional languages without a manual translation cycle.
- A human correction can override any machine translation.
Add-on$15/mo per AI translation language.
AI credits and budget caps
Give teams useful AI help without open-ended spend by showing included value, prepaid credit packs, and caps.
Included with allowancePaid plans include monthly AI credit sized to the plan; trials include trial credits.
Pricing details
- Budget caps stay on by default, and larger prepaid AI credit packs are available when you need more.
Bring us the photos. We will help you find the Story.
Simply Stories is a private pilot today. Tell us about your family or community archive, and we will follow up as broader access opens.