Imagining what you’ll be like in the future is a common children’s game, full of the sometimes unlikely hopes and fears we all feel as we think about what’s to come. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have used AI to make that concept a little more realistic through the new Future you project. The AI-powered chatbot simulates your older self, specifically a version from 30 years in the future.
MIT’s Media Lab built Future You with the idea of encouraging thoughtful introspection about who you are, who you want to be, and how to develop and pursue long-term goals. Some digital aging technology even lets you see what you will (potentially) look like decades from now.
“Our system allows users to chat with a recognizable yet AI-powered virtual version of their future self that is tailored to their future goals and persona qualities,” the scientists explain in summary for their study. paper about Future You. “The character ‘Future You’ also takes on the persona of an image of the user’s current self evolved over the years.”
To try Future You, simply go through the initial setup and answer questions about your current life. That includes relationships, professional situations, goals, and your history to date. It may seem personal, but the more information the AI has about who you are now, the better it can project who you could become. Once the survey is complete, the AI builds a profile of your future self and matches it with a customized version of OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 AI model. You also have the option to upload a current photo of yourself, which the AI will then make look 30 years older.
If you talk to that person, you will discover that he has a synthetic memory of the past 30 years. That way it can talk to you about what led to it becoming the (projected, fictional) version of yourself. That could mean achieving your stated career goals or your dreams for family life. The AI will not just say that those goals have been achieved, but will have a whole timeline explaining how it got to that point. The result should be far from generic, and the AI should be able to perform as a convincing potential version of your future self.
Future AI itself
The idea of interacting with a digital doppelgänger from the future seems at first like nothing more than a game of what if, and one with no real value outside of entertainment. However, those who have tried Future You have reported feeling like they have new insight into their lives and more motivation to pursue current goals. Even a brief interaction with their “future” self causes users to say they feel less worried about the future as a whole.
It’s about making the future seem more real. The MIT researchers believe that while the AI simulation very clearly doesn’t predict anyone’s real future, it can make the future seem more real, shortening the psychological distance you might feel from that future self and allowing for better decision-making encouraged because you can now imagine how your choices now affect who you will become.
Future You is still experimental, but the effect on people is encouraging. Making the future a reality with deliberately synthetic versions of someone isn’t the most obvious use of AI models, but according to my own future self, it’s a good start towards better choices and will ensure I never go bald .