The future you, MIT lets you chat with your smart, older self

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT Profile) have created a chatbot inspired by artificial intelligence (AI) that simulates a user’s previous “self” and provides observations and suggestions. The goal is to encourage people to think more today about who they want to be tomorrow.

By digitizing the profile photos of young users and showing them as wrinkled, white-haired elderly people, chatbots generate credible synthetic memories and use users ‘current wishes to create stories about their successful lives.

“The goal is to promote long-term thinking and behavior changes,” said Pat Pataranutapen, who works on the Future You project at the MIT Media Laboratory. “This can inspire people to make smarter choices now, thereby optimizing their well-being and long-term life outcomes.”

How will you work in the future?

To interact with the chatbot, users are first asked to answer a series of questions about themselves, their friends and family, the past experiences that shaped them, and their ideal life for the future. They then upload a portrait image, which the program digitally ages to generate a portrait of the user in his 60s.

The program then inputs information from user responses into a large language model that generates rich synthetic memories for the simulated elderly self. This ensures that the chatbot answers questions based on a consistent backstory.

The last part of the system is the chatbot itself, powered by OpenAI by GPT-3.5, which presents itself as a possible old version of user, able to talk about their life experiences.

Pataranuthapong had several conversations with his “future self”, but he said the most profound thing was the chat robot reminding him that his parents were not there. Aria I am always around, so he should spend as much time as possible with them. “This meeting gave me a perspective that still affects me today,” he said.

Users are told that the “future self” is not a prediction, but a potential future self based on the information they provide. Encourage them to explore different future questions by changing their responses to problems. Question Ali.

According to a preliminary scientific article on the project-which has not yet been peer-reviewed-testing involving 344 volunteers, conversations with chatbots can make people feel less anxious and build a closer connection with their future selves. Pataranuthapong said this closer connection should encourage people to make better life decisions, from focusing on specific goals and exercising regularly to eating healthy and saving for the future.

Ivo Frayev, professor of behavioral science at the University of Warwick, said it is often difficult for people to imagine themselves in the future, but doing so can lead to a more consistent education, a healthier lifestyle and more prudent financial planning.

He called the MIT project a “fascinating application” of behavioral science principles. “It incorporates the idea of push-subtle interventions designed to guide behavior in beneficial ways-to make the future self more prominent and more relevant to the present,” he said. “If implemented properly, it has the potential to significantly affect the way people consider future well-being when making decisions today.”

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Original text:https://singularityhub.com/2024/06/05/this-mit-chatbot-is-your-older-wiser-future-self-its-here-to-help-you-make-better-decisions/
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