AI Simulation Gives People a Look of Their Potential Future Self

In a preliminary user research study, the scientists found that after with Future You for about half an hour, individuals reported decreased anxiety and felt a stronger sense of connection with their future selves.

« We do not have an actual time machine yet, but AI can be a type of virtual time maker. We can utilize this simulation to help people believe more about the effects of the options they are making today, » states Pat Pataranutaporn, a current Media Lab doctoral graduate who is actively developing a program to advance human-AI interaction research at MIT, and co-lead author of a paper on Future You.

Pataranutaporn is signed up with on the paper by co-lead authors Kavin Winson, a researcher at KASIKORN Labs; and Peggy Yin, a Harvard University undergrad; as well as 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, professor of marketing, behavioral decision making, and psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles. The research study will be provided at the IEEE Conference on Frontiers in Education.

A reasonable simulation

Studies about conceiving one’s future self return to at least the 1960s. One early approach targeted at enhancing future self-continuity had people write letters to their future selves. More just recently, researchers utilized virtual truth goggles to assist individuals imagine future variations of themselves.

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

With the arrival of generative AI and large language models like ChatGPT, the scientists saw an opportunity to make a simulated future self that could discuss somebody’s actual objectives and aspirations during a typical discussion.

« The system makes the simulation very sensible. Future You is a lot more detailed than what an individual could develop by just imagining their future selves, » says Maes.

Users begin by answering a series of questions about their existing lives, things that are essential to them, and goals for the future.

The AI system utilizes this information to produce what the researchers call « future self memories » which offer a backstory the design pulls from when connecting with the user.

For instance, the chatbot might discuss the highlights of somebody’s future profession or response concerns about how the user overcame a specific difficulty. This is possible due to the fact that ChatGPT has actually been trained on extensive data including individuals discussing their lives, careers, and excellent and disappointments.

The user engages with the tool in 2 methods: through self-questioning, when they consider their life and objectives as they construct their future selves, and revision, when they consider whether the simulation shows who they see themselves ending up being, says Yin.

« You can envision Future You as a story search space. You have a possibility to hear how some of your experiences, which may still be mentally charged for you now, might be metabolized over the course of time, » she states.

To assist individuals picture their future selves, the system creates an age-progressed picture of the user. The chatbot is likewise created to offer brilliant answers utilizing expressions like « when I was your age, » so the simulation feels more like an actual future version of the person.

The ability to listen from an older variation of oneself, instead of a generic AI, can have a stronger positive influence on a user contemplating an unpredictable future, Hershfield says.

« The interactive, vivid components of the platform give the user an anchor point and take something that might lead to distressed rumination and make it more concrete and efficient, » he includes.

But that realism might backfire if the simulation moves in a negative direction. To prevent this, they ensure Future You warns users that it shows just one prospective variation of their future self, and they have the company to change their lives. Providing alternate answers to the survey yields a totally different conversation.

« This is not a prophesy, however rather a possibility, » Pataranutaporn says.

Aiding self-development

To evaluate Future You, they performed a user research study with 344 people. Some users interacted with the system for 10-30 minutes, while others either interacted with a generic chatbot or just submitted studies.

Participants who used Future You had the ability to develop a closer relationship with their perfect future selves, based upon a statistical analysis of their actions. 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 worths and beliefs seemed consistent in their simulated future identities.

« This work creates a new path by taking a well-established psychological technique to visualize times to come – an avatar of the future self – with cutting edge AI. This is precisely the type of work academics need to be focusing on as technology to develop virtual self designs merges with large language models, » states Jeremy Bailenson, the Thomas More Storke Professor of Communication at Stanford University, who was not involved with this research.

Building off the results of this initial user research study, the researchers continue to fine-tune the methods they establish context and prime users so they have conversations that help construct a stronger sense of future self-continuity.

« We wish to assist the user to talk about specific subjects, instead of asking their future selves who the next president will be, » Pataranutaporn states.

They are also adding safeguards to prevent people from misusing the system. For instance, one could imagine a company creating a « future you » of a prospective client who attains some terrific outcome in life since they purchased a particular product.

Moving forward, the scientists want to study specific applications of Future You, perhaps by making it possible for people to explore different professions or imagine how their everyday choices might affect climate modification.

They are likewise collecting information from the Future You pilot to better understand how individuals use the system.

« We do not want people to become dependent on this tool. Rather, we hope it is a significant experience that helps them see themselves and the world differently, and assists with self-development, » Maes says.