How people interact has evolved over the years. From sending letters and emails to making phone calls and sending text messages, the AI era has introduced a new way to interact. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently leveraged AI capabilities to develop a chatbot that lets you chat with a future version of yourself.
How is it possible to talk to your future self?
The MIT researchers tested the chatbot’s functionality on 344 people between the ages of 18 and 30. Findings show that users felt less anxious after talking to their future selves and even more motivated. OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 model played a crucial role in the experiment. The model was used to ask study participants essential details about their past, aspirations, and more.
Chronologically, the information provided was used to create a backstory for each of the participants (referred to as synthetic memory). Things got exceptionally interesting when the researchers ventured into future self-continuity.
For context, future self-continuity is a concept borrowed from behavioral science. It states individuals with a strong link between their present state and future are more likely to make informed decisions in all spheres of life, which will be beneficial in the long run.
The cutting-edge chatbot presents a futuristic experience fully integrated with a 60-year-old version of yourself (including a profile picture). While speaking to Euronews Next via email, Ivo Vlaev, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Warwick in the UK, indicated:
The chatbot reportedly reduces “temporal discounting.” In the grand scheme, its capabilities can reshape or guide a user’s behavior by helping them make better and well-informed decisions. More research and analysis still need to be done, but Vlaev says the chatbot’s effectiveness depends on how authentic it sounds.
