A team of experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed the artificial intelligence-based chatbot Future You, which simulates a 60-year-old version of a user.
Experts say a quick chat with a future self is what people need to start thinking more about their decisions in the present.
Future You offers believable stories about the user's life, with appropriate wisdom from the future.
In an experiment involving 334 volunteers, a short conversation with a chatbot made users feel less anxious and more connected to their future.
To start the future chat, the AI asks users a series of questions about their current lives, their past, and where they would like to be in the future.
Users submit an existing photo of themselves, which is converted into a profile photo with gray hair for the future version.
The answers are fed into OpenAI's ChatGPT-3.5 software, which generates "artificial memories" to build a coherent backstory from which to answer the questions.
One participant told Future You that she wants to become a biology teacher in the future. When her 60-year-old character was asked about the proudest moment in her career, the AI responded: “The most rewarding story from my career would be the time I was able to help a student improve his grades and pass his exams in a biology class.”
“It was extremely gratifying to see the student’s face light up with pride and accomplishment,” the AI added.
Pat Patarnotaporn, who works on the Future You project at MIT's Media Lab, says he believes this kind of interaction could have real benefits for users.
He added: "The goal is to promote long-term thinking and behavior change. This can motivate people to make wiser choices in the present, which improve their well-being and life outcomes in the long term."
In a video , Pataranotaporn asks his future self: “What lesson would you share with a new student at the MIT Media Lab?”, to which the AI responds: “The most important lesson I have learned is that nothing is impossible. No matter how difficult it is, if "You worked hard, you can achieve anything."
The researcher pointed out that the artificial intelligence reminded him of the need to spend time with his parents while he still could, and says: “The session gave me a perspective that is still influential to me to this day.”
Studies have found that people who are more connected to their future selves show better mental health, academic performance, and financial skills.
However, experts warn that these technologies can be psychologically harmful or even "haunt" their users.
Risks include: inaccurately portraying the future in a way that detrimentally influences current behavior, endorsing negative behaviors and over-personalization that diminishes true human relationships.
The future might be uncertain.
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