Reimagining Connection with AI and Storytelling

Discussion with Jeremy Horne

With a career rooted in digital delivery and strategy since the early days of the internet, Jeremy Horne has consistently positioned himself at the forefront of technological disruption. From navigating the dotcom boom to leading AI integration today, one theme has remained constant: storytelling. Horne has long understood that stories are the connective tissue of our lives; deepening our relationships with people, places, experiences, and even brands. Now, he channels that insight into building digital tools that tackle one of society's most profound challenges: loneliness. In this article, Horne explores how his company, Storypedia, and its flagship app, Winny, are reshaping the way we preserve legacy, bridge generations, and cultivate social health as a new dimension of wellbeing.

Legacy Through Story: Preserving the Human Experience

At the heart of Storypedia lies a simple but powerful idea: stories are data, but meaningful data. The company’s mission is to create platforms that allow individuals and families to capture, preserve, and share their life stories, building a living archive of authentic experiences.

Winny, the first app launched on the Storypedia platform, is dedicated to capturing intergenerational life stories in a way that fosters emotional connection and digital legacy. “The intention is that we put the app out there to help people have;  one, better conversations with their friends and family, and then two, the ability to record the stories that come out of those conversations”, Horne explains. These stories become the foundation for products like personalized books and even authentic digital avatars, designed to be passed down to future generations.

But authenticity is critical. Horne contrasts the superficiality of scraping online content with the intentional storytelling enabled by his platform. “Unless you've got the right authentic content, you could create a version of me that looks and sounds like me, but it's not the version I would say represents me”. Instead, the app encourages co-created archives, blending personal stories with family perspectives for a richer, more human representation. 

Addressing Disconnection: A New Approach to Social Health

Loneliness is no longer a private struggle, it’s a public health issue now costing the global economy hundreds of billions each year. Its toll is not just financial but deeply human: eroding trust, weakening family ties, and hollowing out communities. “It’s a massive, costly problem that isn’t just monetary. It’s depriving people of healthy, happy lives”, Horne emphasizes. 

“Social health is the strength of your relationships. That's essentially what it means”, Horne explains. And it is precisely this kind of relational strength that Winny is designed to nurture. Winny supports low-friction, feel-good exchanges that deepen relationships without demanding endless screen time. “If I call a friend right now and say, ‘Hey, just thinking of you,’ both of us will feel good”, he says.

With the World Health Organization formally recognizing social health as the third pillar of wellbeing, Horne notes, “Now there’s funding, grants, and focus we didn’t have before”. This validation has sparked a wave of investment from governments and companies alike, driven by a growing awareness of the issue’s scale; loneliness is now estimated to cost the global economy between $400 and $800 billion.

Winny is designed around everyday experiences, birthdays, anniversaries, milestones, to foster therapeutic, connective moments. “It was actually a huge group of people between the ages of, I think… between 18 and 26 year olds who reported feeling lonely 50% of the time”, Horne shares. “Undoubtedly, social media platforms have not helped with that at all”. That’s one of the use cases that Winny is trying to solve, helping people feel more connected.

Human Design over Algorithmic Addiction

In an age when social media thrives on addictive engagement loops, Horne envisions an entirely different digital ethos. One centered on deliberate interaction over algorithmic compulsion. “We're not doing the endless scroll. We're not trying to hook your eyeballs. We're trying to gamify the connection”, he says.

Rather than dopamine-triggering feeds, Winny rewards users for nurturing their relationships. Inspired by ideas like Tamagotchi, users "grow" connections by sharing stories, participating in milestone moments, and journaling memories. It’s a feedback loop designed not for retention, but for meaning. “We're trying to incentivize people to stay connected”, Horne adds, “to be a good friend, a good sibling, a good child”.

This focus on intention over attention has also shaped the platform's monetization strategy. "We don't want to productize people's time. We want to generate revenue through experiences, books, and cards. Not by extracting attention through ads”, Horne describes. By sidestepping the advertising model, Storypedia preserves the integrity of its mission: technology that facilitates, not replaces, human connection.

Digital Legacy for a Post-Scroll Generation

For Horne, the idea of legacy isn’t about archiving the past; it’s about preserving presence. Winny enables users to record not just milestones but inner experiences, values, and emotions. "The thing I say to everyone: just interview your parents. You won’t regret it”, he says.

He emphasizes that these records are not just for future generations. They enrich the lives of users today by deepening bonds and promoting self-reflection. "There’s a saying: the quality of your relationships is directly proportional to the quality of the questions you ask", he shares. Winny provides those questions, and the space to answer them.

And when the time comes, those voices remain. "We don’t want Winny to be YouTube for dead people. But we do want people to be remembered. And more importantly, we want them to be known", Horne explains.

Storytelling at Scale: From Families to Communities to Enterprises

While Winny currently targets consumers, the ambition doesn’t stop at the family unit. Horne’s vision includes enterprise and community-scale applications of storytelling to drive engagement, wellbeing, and cultural memory. “What you don't get in remote work is that watercooler time… where people share their stories”, he notes. “We're developing a B2B version that helps teams build those relationships”.

The enterprise model will follow once the consumer experience is perfected. “We could generate revenue more quickly through B2B”, he admits, “but we chose to begin with families because that’s where the impact is greatest”.

Beyond the workplace, Storypedia is exploring community-based storytelling. From QR-tagged sculptures to centennial cafes, the platform captures collective memory and civic identity. Stories transform objects and places into vessels of shared significance. “When people can tell the story of an artwork for instance, its creator, its origin, it transforms from decoration into something deeply personal”, Horne says. 

Designing Legacy in the Age of Connection

At a time when technology often feels extractive, Horne offers a refreshing blueprint for what tech can do when aligned with human values. For organizations navigating hybrid work, generational divides, or cultural fragmentation, intentional storytelling becomes a quiet unifier; connecting people not through metrics, but through meaning. 

What begins as a tool for emotional presence at home can extend into the workplace, deepening empathy and fostering happier, more proactive teams. At scale, these platforms help businesses humanize leadership, reinforce values, and foster inclusive engagement. 

For Horne, one message cuts through the noise: “Just grab your phone. Everyone’s got the ability now. Just record your parents”, he insists. After losing his mother, he found solace in the stories he had captured, her voice, her expressions, her memories. “Obviously we can't replace my mom, but it's kind of like the next closest thing”.

This practice isn’t just about nostalgia. It’s about presence. Asking your parents what they’re proud of, what they remember, what shaped them. These are conversations that too often come too late. “You don’t have to agree on everything”, Horne says. “You don’t have to mend an entire relationship. But it’s a great place to start, just by asking questions and showing interest”.

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