BY: DANIEL KORN
It’s that age-old question: why are we here?
Biologically speaking, the reason for our existence is simply to pass on our genes. A lot of us still have this urge inside us, but our developed brains have made the biologic answer unsatisfactory. As far as we know, humans are the only species capable of questioning our existence beyond the rat race of evolution. The creation and awareness of greater metaphysical concepts has haunted us for centuries, and so the quest for reproduction has been adapted into a larger desire to leave some sort of “legacy.” For some, this takes the traditional form of family bloodlines and one’s children being the ultimate representation of the parent; for others, it’s leaving behind valuable works of art, furthering civil rights, or something as simple as having a positive impact on the people around them.
In the digital age, our existences leave more historical fingerprints than ever before. We live a good fraction of our lives in the public sphere, and those Facebook posts, pictures, and e-mails are forever enshrined, unless the person given posthumous responsibility for the accounts opts to delete them. The co-founders of Enterni.me are bringing the concept to its logical conclusion – a virtual representation of oneself that future generations can actually interact with.
Admittedly, it’s not quite the space-age futurism it seems like. Here’s the idea: you sign up for the website and it stores data about you from anywhere it can. This includes the social media you’d expect, but also stretches out to less obvious data like location information, Fitbit profiles, and even inputs from Google Glass. It then integrates this data into a three-dimensional avatar which is designed to look and sound like you, and can give information to family and friends who you’ve authorized access to pre-death. The avatar supposedly learns how to do this in a couple ways. It sifts through the data and decides, algorithmically, which aspects best represent you, and users are also encouraged to “train” their avatars by interacting with them daily. The format of this communication is currently unknown.
It seems creepy at first and even a little bit unhealthy – the danger of recently-bereaved loved ones becoming obsessed with this virtual representation rather than grieving “properly” is a real danger – but CEO Marius Ursache is quick to clarify that the avatar is meant more as a friendly guide to the person’s database than a functioning human replacement. Think of it like navigating through a family history website with the family member you’re currently researching.
It’s important to note that though Eterni.me might talk a big game, it’s pretty much all conjecture at this point. They expect to have a private beta ready for the end of 2015 – which you can sign up for on their website – but even they realize that the technology probably won’t be ready for their idea for at least another five years. Chatbot software needs to improve drastically, and the company hasn’t been particularly candid about progress on the data-sifting algorithm.
Considering this now might be the time to start thinking about whether having an ostensibly accurate virtual representation of yourself is an idea you’d be comfortable with. You’ve got about five years to figure it out.
