Your Digital Double Awaits
There is an AI virtual replica of you online: your Digital Double. At your service for mirroring your behaviors better than you.
3D Digital Double Character by Laura Salomoni, available via The Rookies. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Suppose you thought that AI was already close enough to provide comfort and understand you better than a friend or therapist. In that case, there is an even more intimate level reached by what is known as a Digital Double: the virtual representation of a physical entity, whether living or non-living. A digital twin that can evolve into a true digital replica that serves various purposes. In simple terms, our physical selves, who we are, how we act, our preferences, and our interactions, can become a cyber representation.
This concept is no more complex than you think, considering that we all have a digital twin already. They are created and nurtured by the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analysis. When you browse the For You page on social media, for instance, the algorithm suggests content based on your passions and interests, effectively addressing your digital twin rather than you. And it is this digital version of ourselves that becomes the target of advertisements and algorithms.
In the future, AI models trained on our data, behaviors, and preferences will become even more personal than they are today. These advanced models will be capable of interacting with the world on our behalf. Currently, AI already performs tasks for us to a certain extent; it organizes our schedules, makes phone calls, and even replicates human communication with natural pauses. Additionally, AI is used in dating apps to identify potential matches for us.
As soon as we engage with our devices, we take by the hand our Digital Double. The entire social media experience is heavily mediated by AI and is becoming increasingly sophisticated. In the near future, these AI agents may do much more than just manage advertisements; they could (and this is one of the pros that have always been attributed to artificial intelligence) relieve us of tedious tasks, allowing us to focus on more creative and enjoyable activities. These models could act on our behalf, present themselves convincingly to others, and even anticipate our actions.
Imagine having multiple online meetings in different time zones. Your avatar might solve the challenge: your digital twin could conduct meetings for you, freeing you from scheduling conflicts and enabling you to manage your day more efficiently.
Nonetheless, this raises questions about what it means to create this blood deal with technology. We don't need further development by AI to realize the deleterious effects it’s having on people, and not just the younger ones. Our attention span has dropped dramatically; if something requires our concentration for more than a minute, we easily abandon the article we are reading or the video we are watching. What will happen to our personal skills and communication when our digital doubles become the norm? When will these AI models become so accurate and refined that they are indistinguishable from real human interactions?
By proxy, we can prepare ourselves to win arguments, anticipate how a job interview might unfold, or draft the perfect email to a university professor or employer. These digital assistants can help reduce our anxiety and minimize errors. However, as I type, I reflect on the countless times that email blunders and poor interviews taught me valuable lessons about my shortcomings and how I could have improved. If we imagine our lives without these errors, thanks to an avatar that cleaned up our mistakes in the past, how much less would we understand? How much less would we know about one another? A great deal. How often have we altered our responses or interactions because we've encountered new information, stimuli, or surprises? Our introspection and individuality are highly complex, rarely do they follow the linear patterns that artificial intelligence automates, yet, questions arise and remain valid.
This brief article stems from more complex research carried out by Claire L. Evans available at MODEM. Within the paper, a passage quotes sociologist and philosopher Marshall McLuhan, who once observed "Every extension is an amputation. Just as our ability to write by hand, read maps, and memorize information has atrophied alongside the rise of keyboards and dictation, GPS navigation, and the Web, we may eventually cede small talk, writing, decision-making, and critical reading to our doppelgängers—at our peril."
