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Are Digital Doppelgangers the Future of Digital Identities?
by Sara PintoJuly 26th, 2022
Too Long; Didn't Read
A digital twin is a replica of something in the physical world, but with a unique mission - to help improve, or in some other way provide feedback to, the real-life version. Technology analyst Rob Enderle believes that we will have the first versions of thinking human digital twins "before the end of the decade". We debated how AI replicas could be used to predict how you'll turn out in the future.People Mentioned
The world of technology has been revolutionized once more by the possibility of a digital doppelganger. This came to us by the connection of AI and the internet of things - which uses sensors to connect physical things to the network.
Even though this innovative subject is still in its early stages, we brought it to our tech channel so we could discuss it.
This Slogging thread by Sara Pinto, Mónica Freitas, Arthur Tkachenko and Jack Boreham occurred in slogging's official #technology channel, and has been edited for readability.
Is having a digital doppelganger the future?
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61742884
"Most of us have been told by a friend that we have a doppelganger - some stranger they passed on the street who bore an uncanny resemblance to you.
But imagine if you could create your very own twin, an exact copy of yourself, but one that lived a purely digital life?
We are living in an age where everything that exists in the real world is being replicated digitally - our cities, our cars, our homes, and even ourselves.
And just like the hugely-hyped metaverse - plans for a virtual, digital world where an avatar of yourself would walk around - digital twins have become a new, talked-about tech trend.
A digital twin is an exact replica of something in the physical world, but with a unique mission - to help improve, or in some other way provide feedback to, the real-life version."
"Initially such twins were just sophisticated 3D computer models, but artificial intelligence (AI) combined with the internet of things - which uses sensors to connect physical things to the network - have meant that you can now build something digitally that is constantly learning from and helping improve the real counterpart.
Technology analyst Rob Enderle believes that we will have the first versions of thinking human digital twins "before the end of the decade".
"The emergence of these will need a huge amount of thought and ethical consideration, because a thinking replica of ourselves could be incredibly useful to employers," he says."
Arthur Tkachenko Jack Boreham Limarc Ambalina Mónica Freitas what are your thoughts on this?
Sara Pinto Call me old fashion, but I'm not a fan of this. It reminds me of a piece of news I saw about AI being able to replicate you on a particular social media platform and it maintaining your online presence even after you pass. There could be good uses, but it's just too sci-fi-sh. Do we need this? And if everything online is hackable, are we not creating a piece of tech that can be potentially harmful?
I think firstly we need to pass a law that a person can marry an AI 🙂
Mónica Freitas, this is basically the news you saw, in the sense that this would be an avatar of yours combined with AI, making it realer, I believe. But you mention an interesting subject: do we need this technology? Sure, it's interesting, but I understand your concerns. Won't the disadvantages be more than the benefits this could bring?
In this piece of news, we also learn that "She adds that whether someone will "be successful at law school, get sick, or commit a crime - will depend on the still debated 'nature versus nurture question'.
It will depend on good luck and bad luck, friends, family, their socio-economic background and environment, and of course their personal choices."
However, she explains, AI is not yet good at predicting these "single social events, due to their inherent complexity. And so, we have a long ways to go until we can understand and model a person's life from beginning to end, assuming that is ever possible."
This digital doppelganger could be a way to help us guide some aspects of our lives, if it was advanced enough, such as diseases, I imagine. And yet, not everything is predictable. However, if we combine the real world with the digital one constantly, should we stop here?
Arthur Tkachenko, do you think that's one of the next steps to take towards AI replicas? Haha
Sara Pinto so they're planning to use this digital twin to predict how you'll turn out in the future and what your life will be like?
Mónica Freitas, I believe it's a possibility they have in mind. Prof Sandra Wachter, a senior research fellow in AI at Oxford University, said "it is reminiscent of exciting science fiction novels, and at the moment that is the stage where it is at". It's ambitious, but there's still a long way to go
Sara Pinto imagine people start judging people based on an AI prediction... wouldn't this set us backward as a society? Always looking over our shoulder.
Mónica Freitas, that would mean that other people would have access to your digital doppelganger. I don't know how this would work it terms of privacy, but it could have those types of disadvantages
Sara Pinto, maybe I've just seen too many sci-fi movies, but I imagine future employers and police forces and other governmental entities having access to this, and it's scary
Mónica Freitas, the company behind this will always have the full access to it, I just hope it controles the info they let other entities access
Sara Pinto, it's still too much power for a company, but hopefully, we'll have more control over our data
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I mean we will get there eventually but I don't think in a decade
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