A Human + AI Storytelling Project

30 Birds

In a 12th-century Persian poem, thirty birds set out to find a mythical king. After crossing seven valleys, they arrive - and discover that the Simorgh, the king they sought, is them. Si morgh means thirty birds.

This project asks: what if AI could help thirty people find their story - and what if those stories, assembled, revealed something none of them could see alone?

An aerial view of people in warm reds, oranges and yellows, arranged together in the shape of a bird

Why this. Why now.

The dominant story about AI is one of displacement - machines taking over, jobs disappearing, an intelligence rising that is indifferent to human life. That story is not entirely wrong. But it is dangerously incomplete.

We believe the more important story is the one we build together. People with good intentions, working with powerful tools, can create a future where the rise of machines gives voice to people who never had one - where technology closes the distance between an inner life and its expression, rather than flattening both.

30 Birds is a proof of that. It is a demonstration - not a claim - that human and machine can collaborate in service of something intimate, specific, and irreplaceable: a person's story.

A taste of the thirty

Pencil sketch of an elderly man smiling at a family meal, with floor plans and wilted plants around him — I am ninety, and I still have it. I'm sitting at a table with the people who love me, eating a dish my wife invented, inspired by my mother's cooking. The plants by the window are dying, and I'm complaining about it, exactly like my father used to. I'm not building anything. I'm not proving anything. I'm not anxious about getting it right. I'm just here, imperfect and ordinary, and I know how to receive their love. That is enough.

Pencil sketch of an older woman in bed holding her son's face as he leans in close — It is 4:30 in the morning. My mother is in bed. She will not allow herself die before we have said goodbye for the last time. I try to tell her about the journey to her bedside: the plane that wouldn't take off because of thunderstorms, how I kept my promise not to drive to her bedside for the last goodbye, the arrangement I struck with a taxi driver… But I can see she has neither patience nor energy for my story. So, I simply say, "I love you." She replies, "I love you too." She closes her blue eyes for the last time. Her final wish has been fulfilled. She can die in peace. The light in my world leaves with her, and all that remains is the faint lamp by the bedside.

Pencil sketch of a grandmother kneading dough while a boy points at a plane overhead — My grandmother loved helping others, and she fed people who had less than we did. She was happiest working in the field, surrounded by people. As a child, I followed her everywhere, watching. I was too young to grasp the vastness of her heart, but it left a mark on me. Whenever a plane crossed the sky, I assumed, for no good reason, that it was headed to America, where all the opportunities were. I figured we lived in a war because we weren't there. Years later, I moved to America. But the question her life left me with is still unanswered: where in this world can we live the way she envisioned?

Illustration of a teacher speaking to a group of young people around a tomb in a garden pavilion — I am finally home in Iran. I am back in Hafezieh, the garden of poetry, surrounded by young people, and I teach them what I have believed all my life: that we fight cruelty, we fight poverty, and education is how prosperity reaches everyone. Their instruments lean against the stone walls, and when the lesson ends, someone always starts to play. After fighting to ensure my people can demand, and have, at least basic human rights and freedom, I spend the rest of my life teaching poetry and music, and spreading love through them.

What you get out of it

This isn't a survey you fill out so we can publish a book. Whether or not your story is selected, or whether you submit it at all, you walk away with a written narrative about your own life - shaped through a conversation designed to help you notice things about yourself you might not have put into words before.

Some people use it as a record for their family. Some use it to make sense of a chapter they hadn't looked at directly in a while. The book is one thing this can lead to - it isn't the only reason to do it.

“The 30Birds storytelling process, like a good interview, made me think deeply about who I am now and what life experiences since childhood have shaped who I have become today. It was an inspirational process which made me shed some tears as the AI interviewer "understood" and "reflected" my life story in terms that I might not have come up with myself. It refreshed me and helped me discover myself better.”
— AF

“Answering the questions caused me to reexamine my life and marvel at how I landed on my feet after my experiences. Participating left a written record of important events in my life for my wife, children, friends, and relatives - and a chance to share simple rules that let me live a good life and be a good spouse, hoping others might benefit from them too. Producing the story of my life was a pleasant experience.”
— MF

“Going through this process with 30Birds was surprisingly emotional - the questions kept pushing past my polished answers until I landed on a pattern connecting how I relate to my parents and siblings and how I show up as an entrepreneur in healthcare, a throughline I'd never actually named, even though I'd sensed it for years. It helped me put language to why I am the way I am, and reminded me that being fully, honestly myself matters more than being useful. I wanted to share it because being that honest publicly might help someone else recognize the same pattern in themselves.”
— AM

“This process cracked open something I'd been circling for years without naming it. It revealed the gap between what I inherited and what I've actually earned. It didn't just help me understand my drive, it helped me tell the difference between chasing a legacy and building one. I'm sharing it because naming the tension aloud is the first step to actually resolving it. Hopefully this will help me and maybe anyone else quietly measuring themselves against someone else's shadow.”
— LH

“The 30 Birds process gave me the chance to step back and see how the different chapters of my life connect. The questions pushed me beyond the obvious answers and helped me put words to patterns I had felt for years but had never fully named. It gave me a clearer view of who I am today, what drives me, what has shaped me, and what I still want to become. More than anything, it helped me see that my story was already coming together - I just needed the right questions to notice it. At the same time, this is only a snapshot of who I am today. The story is still evolving, and I believe the next chapters will continue to unfold in incredible and unexpected ways. By no means are we done.”
— JAB

Three conversations, about 60 minutes each. You keep the narrative whether or not your story makes it into the book.

Start your first conversation

How it works

Three conversations. Each about 60 minutes.

These conversations can go deep - pace yourself, and take breaks between them.

1.Find a quiet space with 60 minutes to yourself - no interruptions.
2.Copy the prompt into Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI assistant and start a new conversation.
3.There are 3 prompts, start each one in a new session.
4.Answer honestly - the more specific you are, the more the process gives back.
5.At the end of each conversation, it should give you a story as an output. Save that as a file so that you can share with us.

Conversation 1

What's the most impactful decision you've ever made in your life?

Conversation 2

What's the hardest thing you've ever gone through, and how did it change you?

Conversation 3

What feels most unfinished in your life: the thing you still want to complete, resolve, or become?

1.Ideally, complete all three conversations before submitting - each one is meant to capture a slightly different slice of your story. We also recommend doing the prompts with a few days gap to allow for each conversation to settle before engaging in the next one.
2.Email your three saved narratives to 30birds@ai.science.
3.Include your name and how you'd like to be credited. We'll respond within 7 days.

The book

30 Birds will be published as a commercial book. Our editorial team transforms your submitted stories into a single coherent narrative, then arranges all 30 so they build toward something larger than any one of them.

The visual identity of the book is original - imagery created specifically for each story, not stock, not decorative. The visuals accumulate meaning as the book progresses, the way the stories do.

Selection

Every story that emerges honestly from this process has value and we appreciate that. However we won't be able to accommodate all submitted stories. What we are building is an arc - and each story needs to contribute to it.

Credit

Full credit, partial credit (no direct attribution to your story), or full anonymity. If credited, you can include a link to anywhere you'd like readers to find you.

Recognition

Selected contributors can request up to 10 free copies sent anywhere in the world, and/or ask us to direct a portion of proceeds to a charity of their choice.

Where we are

Accepted: 11 / 30

13 submitted

The author

Amir Feizpour

Originator - AI Workflow & Research

Dr. Amir Feizpour is the Founder, CEO, and Chief Scientist of Aggregate Intellect, where he leads R&D and commercial work at the frontier of human-machine collaboration - building systems where AI amplifies human expertise rather than replacing it. He has grown a global community of over 6,000 AI practitioners and researchers. Previously NLP Product Lead at the Royal Bank of Canada and a researcher at the University of Oxford, he holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Toronto. Amir is also an entrepreneur-in-residence, fractional Chief AI Officer, and advisor to the innovation ecosystem across North America.

Questions

Your story is one of the thirty.

Start with Conversation 1 above. Take your time. Send us what emerges.

Submit your story - 30birds@ai.science