Nigerian journalist and app developer Kunle Adebajo has built a tool he believes fills a crucial gap: sparking story ideas.
On his X account, he said that unlike most AI writing assistants that generate complete drafts or polish existing work, Adebajo’s app is designed to do something more fundamental — inspire.
“Anytime I teach story ideation techniques at journalism workshops, I always do a brain exercise where we find interesting ideas at the intersection of two random topics,” Adebajo explained. “I’ve now made that concept into an app. I doubt anything like this already exists.”
For years, Adebajo has trained young reporters across Africa, encouraging them to think beyond traditional beats.
The idea of fusing unrelated concepts such as climate change and fashion, or migration and sports, often led participants to uncover fresh, unconventional angles.
That same exercise now powers his app.
With a simple click, users can generate random topic pairings that serve as creative prompts for pitches, features, or investigative reports.
But Adebajo didn’t stop there. Drawing inspiration from other innovative apps, he added playful elements to make the platform more versatile.
“I recently saw a vibe-coded app where you could generate bedtime stories to be read to your kids using emoji prompts. I thought that was cool and incorporated it,” he said.
His app allows users to upload images as well, turning photos into non-fiction storytelling prompts — a feature he believes will be particularly useful for journalists and documentary writers.
Why It Matters
With shrinking newsroom budgets and increased pressure on journalists to produce unique pitches, tools that support creativity rather than replace human reporting could prove invaluable.
Adebajo insists the app is not a replacement for critical thinking or reporting skills but rather a catalyst.
“Most of the AI tools I could find and have seen are geared towards generating entire stories for you or helping you improve an existing draft,” he said. “But what if all you want for a start is a refreshing idea you can pitch?”
While still in its early stages, the app could appeal not only to journalists but also to teachers, students, and creative writers looking for inspiration.
Here’s a link to try it out https://chronycles.com/apps/storyspark/
