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Trace of Thought 思迹
A real-time focus assistant that helps you reclaim deep work, the first application of our paradigm.
Explore Trace of ThoughtUnderstand yourself, become your true self.
The clearer you see who you are, the more you can become who you are, and the two feed each other. We build AI that helps you model and understand yourself, so you can act as the person you actually mean to be.
The gap between who you are and who you mean to be
Everyone carries two value systems: the one you endorse, and the one your daily behavior actually realizes. For most of us, the two drift apart. Closing that gap is the work Nietzsche called self-overcomingNietzsche’s name for the work of closing that gap: continually transcending your present limits to become who you truly mean to be..
Limited self-awareness.
Much of what we do runs on autopilotRoughly 80% of action runs on autopilot, per Thinking, Fast and Slow..
Real constraints
on time, energy, and ability.
Borrowed, secondhand values
and mistaken beliefs we never truly chose.
Our belief
What we believe
We live in an age of infinite options, and an economy of players all competing to capture your impulses and make your choices for you. With unprecedented capability at our fingertips, we’re paradoxically less able to act on our own will. Our bet: AI and personal data (aligned with you, not with whoever is selling the next option) can help you take that control back, come to know yourself, and put powerful technology in the service of your own autonomy.
How we do it
Understand what you truly value.
We build that understanding from two directions that reinforce each other: inferring it implicitly from the choices and behavior in your everyday life and work, and exploring it directly with you, through deeper dialogue and self-reflection. Not behavior alone, not a self-report questionnaire alone, but both together.
Notice when you drift.
Gently, in real time, we help you catch the moment you start to stray.
Act on it.
AI is not here to control you, but to be a mirror that helps you see yourself clearly and act on your values.
The deeper idea
We’re building toward something larger: AI that understands your intent, not just your commands, and treats your values as the context for how it helps you. In the AI era, being able to clearly express your intent and align it with AI may be the single biggest lever on what you can achieve, and, if left unsolved, the single biggest barrier.
Products
What we’re building
Future vision
- SoonComprehensive lifestyle coaching
- SoonValue-alignment tools
- SoonPersonalized learning
- SoonAI personas tailored to you
About the founder
Bomin Zhang 张博民
Founder
CS + Philosophy at UIUC. MS in Applied AI at the University of Maryland. Works on AI value alignment, value theory, and Graph RAG.
“The product is its user. I build what I myself need.”