AI Simulation Gives People a Look of Their Potential Future Self

In a preliminary user study, the researchers found that after connecting with Future You for about half an hour, individuals reported reduced anxiety and felt a more powerful sense of connection with their future selves.

“We don’t have an actual time maker yet, but AI can be a type of virtual time maker. We can utilize this simulation to help people think more about the consequences of the choices they are making today,” states Pat Pataranutaporn, a recent Media Lab doctoral graduate who is actively establishing a program to advance human-AI research study at MIT, and co-lead author of a paper on Future You.

Pataranutaporn is joined on the paper by co-lead authors Kavin Winson, a scientist at KASIKORN Labs; and Peggy Yin, a Harvard University undergraduate; along with Auttasak Lapapirojn and Pichayoot Ouppaphan of KASIKORN Labs; and senior authors Monchai Lertsutthiwong, head of AI research study at the KASIKORN Business-Technology Group; Pattie Maes, the Germeshausen Professor of Media, Arts, and Sciences and head of the Fluid Interfaces group at MIT, and Hal Hershfield, teacher of marketing, behavioral choice making, and psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles. The research will be provided at the IEEE Conference on Frontiers in Education.

A sensible simulation

Studies about conceptualizing one’s future self return to at least the 1960s. One early approach focused on enhancing future self-continuity had people compose letters to their future selves. More recently, scientists made use of virtual truth goggles to help individuals imagine future variations of themselves.

But none of these techniques were really interactive, limiting the impact they might have on a user.

With the arrival of generative AI and large language designs like ChatGPT, the scientists saw an opportunity to make a simulated future self that might talk about somebody’s real goals and aspirations during a regular conversation.

“The system makes the simulation really realistic. Future You is much more comprehensive than what a person could create by simply envisioning their future selves,” says Maes.

Users start by responding to a series of concerns about their existing lives, things that are necessary to them, and objectives for the future.

The AI system utilizes this information to develop what the researchers call “future self memories” which offer a backstory the model pulls from when interacting with the user.

For instance, the chatbot could talk about the highlights of somebody’s future profession or answer questions about how the user got rid of a particular obstacle. This is possible since ChatGPT has been trained on comprehensive data involving individuals talking about their lives, careers, and good and bad experiences.

The user engages with the tool in two ways: through self-questioning, when they consider their life and goals as they build their future selves, and retrospection, when they ponder whether the simulation reflects who they see themselves becoming, says Yin.

“You can imagine Future You as a story search space. You have a chance to hear how a few of your experiences, which might still be mentally charged for you now, might be metabolized throughout time,” she says.

To assist individuals envision their future selves, the system produces an age-progressed photo of the user. The chatbot is also developed to supply brilliant responses utilizing expressions like “when I was your age,” so the simulation feels more like an actual future variation of the individual.

The capability to listen from an older variation of oneself, rather than a generic AI, can have a stronger positive effect on a user considering an unpredictable future, Hershfield states.

“The interactive, vivid parts of the platform give the user an anchor point and take something that might result in distressed rumination and make it more concrete and efficient,” he adds.

But that realism could backfire if the simulation relocates an unfavorable direction. To avoid this, they make sure Future You cautions users that it shows only one possible version of their future self, and they have the firm to change their lives. Providing alternate answers to the survey yields a completely various conversation.

“This is not a prophesy, however rather a possibility,” Pataranutaporn states.

Aiding self-development

To examine Future You, they carried out a user research study with 344 people. Some users connected with the system for 10-30 minutes, while others either connected with a generic chatbot or only completed surveys.

Participants who utilized Future You were able to build a better relationship with their ideal future selves, based on an analytical analysis of their reactions. These users also reported less stress and anxiety about the future after their interactions. In addition, Future You users stated the discussion felt sincere which their values and beliefs seemed consistent in their simulated future identities.

“This work creates a brand-new path by taking a reputable psychological technique to envision times to come – an avatar of the future self – with cutting edge AI. This is exactly the kind of work academics ought to be focusing on as technology to construct virtual self designs merges with big language designs,” states Jeremy Bailenson, the Thomas More Storke Professor of Communication at Stanford University, who was not included with this research study.

Building off the outcomes of this initial user study, the researchers continue to fine-tune the methods they establish context and prime users so they have discussions that assist build a stronger sense of future self-continuity.

“We wish to guide the user to discuss specific subjects, instead of asking their future selves who the next president will be,” Pataranutaporn states.

They are also including safeguards to avoid individuals from misusing the system. For circumstances, one might picture a business creating a “future you” of a prospective client who attains some terrific outcome in life due to the fact that they acquired a specific item.

Moving on, the researchers want to study specific applications of Future You, possibly by allowing individuals to check out various careers or picture how their daily options might affect environment change.

They are also gathering data from the Future You pilot to much better comprehend how people utilize the system.

“We do not desire individuals to end up being reliant on this tool. Rather, we hope it is a meaningful experience that assists them see themselves and the world differently, and aids with self-development,” Maes says.