After more than a year of researching, reviewing and writing about artificial intelligence, I’ve been wanting to learn more about AI as a thinking and planning platform. While it’s a great tool for streamlining work, it’s also being used in more creative ways, and I’ve been curious about my own thinking style.

Why do I see connections and visualizations when someone speaks? Why do I often feel like I’m not just listening and digesting information, but instead, piecing through what’s being said and translating it into a deeper connection point? 

“Problem solving, thinking… It’s a journey you go through where you need to be able to have that freedom to explore,” Stephen Chau, the co-founder of AI platform Cove, tells me.

The story of Cove began with Chau and his co-founders Andy  Szybalski and Michael  Chu experimenting with AI, only to realize that something was missing. AI needed to work more like a human collaborator — and that means thinking in flexible and responsive ways, while able to support complex, ongoing projects. 

So why do most AI tools still feel limited to linear, transactional chatbot interactions? 

Chau and his co-founders “we were having a lot of fun experimenting with AI,” he tells me. “But the more we built, the more we saw fundamental limitations in chatbots.” 

I was reminded of Flora, a creative operating system that contains a beautiful and fluid setup for ideation. It mimics a designer’s sketchbook or filmmaker’s storyboard. Cove, in contrast, is for thought clarity — more architectural, but still beautiful and clean, and focused on sharpening what’s been built and creating insight along the way. 

Cove’s best feature, and one it has in common with many AI tools, is that it responds and adapts in real time. Chau shared that Cove pulls from a mix of top AI models — OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Perplexity — without requiring you to choose or toggle between them. The goal is for it to feel less like software and more like inviting a collaborator into your thought process. 

As Chau described it, Cove creates a flexible workspace for you, filled with cards that break your project into manageable pieces. 

These cards let you explore multiple ideas at once, compare options side by side and dive deeper through suggested actions on each card. This visual, interactive approach helps you think through complex problems in a way traditional chatbots don’t.

Chau sums up the vision simply: People using Cove are “working through a long-term problem.”

“Over time, we hope to use that information as frameworks for tackling those problems, so more users can benefit,” he tells me.

Ultimately, Cove creates space for non-linear output — think of it less as a tool and more of a partner in thoughtful growth and discovery — one that you can share with others who are equally interested in understanding the brain’s layered, intricate process. 

Happy thinking.