Conversations Across Generations: Creating a Digital Legacy

How AI Could Let Us Chat with Our Great-Grandchildren—Long After We’re Gone

Please subscribe; please share. There is no downside because your email will not be used for other purposes. You will receive no advertisements.

Copy and share the link, post it on another platform. It is not that I get money with more subscribers, but it makes me happy when more people read it.

-+-+-+-+

Would you like to have a real-time chat with your great-grandchildren? Not a one-sided message like a long letter or a journal entry, but a true conversation—something like today’s Zoom or FaceTime calls, where you could see and hear each other in real-time.

All I have from my grandfather is a single photo, taken in front of the Ataturk statue in Taksim. From that image, I can tell he was a handsome, well-groomed man, but beyond that, he’s a mystery.

But soon, it may be possible for me to create an avatar that looks, thinks, and reasons like me, complete with my memories. This avatar could “live” indefinitely as software, available to chat with my great-grandchildren—or even their great-grandchildren, if they were curious.

This isn’t pure science fiction. Within ten years, maybe sooner, ordinary people may be able to create simulations of themselves for future generations. In fact, there’s already been a primitive attempt. In 2021, William Shatner collaborated with StoryFile to create an interactive AI-powered video, preserving his thoughts and experiences for posterity. Over four days, they recorded Shatner’s responses to nearly 600 questions about his life and career. Later, users could ask the AI questions, and it would respond with the most relevant pre-recorded video clip. This was before the breakthroughs in Stable Diffusion and ChatGPT, so it didn’t use a full avatar or deepfake technology. Only three years later, Shatner’s project already looks primitive by comparison.

High-Fidelity Replicas

Today, you can upload a short video to commercial sites like Synthesia, Kapwing, Veed, or Fliki, and they’ll create a personalized video of an AI-generated “you,” reciting whatever text you provide. But that’s just a talking head reading a script—a glorified letter. What we’re imagining here is far richer: an interactive simulation of you, one that could answer your great-grandchildren’s questions and even ask them questions in return.

Right now, creating such a detailed replica would be prohibitively expensive, requiring vast amounts of data to capture your thoughts, habits, and behaviors. To build a high-fidelity digital “you,” you’d likely need to undergo:

• An exhaustive interview process to capture every detail of your life.

• Recording of all your digital interactions (email, social media, phone conversations, etc.).

• Continuous observation of your daily interactions with the world, perhaps by wearing a recording device to capture conversations and experiences.

Today, this level of data collection is costly. But technology has a way of getting cheaper. Just look at the cost of genome sequencing. In the early 2000s, the Human Genome Project cost nearly $2.7 billion and took over a decade to complete. By 2007, the cost per genome had dropped to around $10 million. With the introduction of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in the late 2000s, prices plummeted further, hitting around $1,000 by 2014. Today, you can sequence a genome for just $200–$600, and it takes only hours.

I expect the cost of “copying” ourselves will fall even faster, especially because we wouldn’t be doing a brain scan slice by slice (as in Neal Stephenson’s Fall), but rather composing a software replica of our behavior and thinking patterns. This replica would be based on a mix of personal interviews and extensive monitoring of our behavior. Imagine, for instance, a wearable device that records not only digital interactions but physical interactions too, syncing with sensors in the environment. These recordings could then be used to train a foundational AI model that simulates your responses. With some polishing and packaging, this technology could soon be affordable..

Conversation with my Great-Grandchild

[A conversation between my digital replica and my great-grandchild, ...; recorded in 2099]

Copy: Well, hello there! What would you like to talk about today?

Child: Can you help me with my school assignment? I need to create a profile on my Great-Aunt Eleanor. I need information about her.

Copy: Really? Wouldn’t it be easier to talk to her directly?

Child: She is in Mars for another two months and Mum won’t let me call her. The assignment’s due tomorrow.

Copy: Hmm. Have you tried asking your dad or even your grandpa? Hugo would know her best, as her baby brother.

Child: I tried. They both said I should figure it out myself. Then I asked Taylan-Dedo, and he basically said the same thing. Yi 奶奶 told me to listen to my Mum.

Copy: So you thought I’d be a softer touch?

Child: Not really, but I figured it was worth a shot.

Copy: Sorry, I can’t help with that. Can’t you choose someone else? What about your great-great-grandfather—me?

Child: No, it has to be someone who’s still alive.

Copy: Well… maybe try your mom, especially since she doesn’t want you calling Eleanor on Mars. She might be happy to help.

Child: …

Copy: Anything else I can help with? Math, physics?

Child: Were you really born in Turkey?

Copy: Yes, I was. Why?

Child: No reason. We’re going there this June. Mum says we’re staying at the place you and Meliz-Neno bought a hundred years ago. Did you really buy it that long ago?

Copy: We bought an apartment in Besiktas ninety years ago. It was already ninety years old at the time and classified as a Class II Historical Building. I’m glad it’s still in the family and getting used.

Child: Okay, I’ve got to go.

Copy: Alright. I’ll be here whenever you need me. Bye.

[The screen goes black]

Reflections

• It’s very possible this technology will be available by 2035. If you’re still around then, would you use it to create a digital “you”?

• If you can create one, you could do more. For example, what if there were replicas of both Meliz and me, available to chat with our great-grandchildren together?

• What would it feel like to be the copy in the conversation above? Even if it talks and behaves like a conscious being, would it actually be conscious?

• This model would be based on my personality and history, but how different would it be from me?

These are big questions—ones we probably can’t answer yet. But it’s fun to imagine. I’ll continue exploring this the future.

-+-+-+-+

Short Takes

Three charts and one story

I downloaded the following three charts from recent Semafor newsletters.

Three charts and one story

I downloaded the following three charts from separate Semafor newsletters.

The first chart shows the rising fortunes of the Chinese coffeehouse chain Luckin Coffee:

When I stayed in Luoyang for six months in 2019, Chinese youth were just discovering cafe culture, and Starbucks was the undisputed leader in that space. But since then, Luckin Coffee has overtaken Starbucks. According to the chart, Luckin is now adding 1,000 new coffee shops every month, while Starbucks’ growth has stagnated.

The second chart illustrates a sharp decline in the number of dollar billionaires in China over the past four years:

The wealth of China’s “super rich” has dropped for three consecutive years, driven by a slowing economy and a decline in stock values.

The third chart shows the steep rise in youth unemployment:

Unemployed Gen Z’ers are applying for government jobs in unprecedented numbers. Semafor reports that more than 3.4 million people are expected to take China’s national public service exam, or guokao, competing for just 39,700 positions— a ratio of about 86 to 1.

What’s the story these three charts tell?

They reveal fault lines created by China’s “Common Prosperity” initiative. This policy, introduced by Xi Jinping, aimed to shift the focus from unchecked rapid growth to more strategic growth that prioritizes social stability. As a result, many large companies were halted in their tracks. One notable example is Alibaba, which was prohibited from listing on U.S. stock exchanges. Today, China has fewer dollar billionaires than it did four years ago, and there are more unemployed young people seeking government positions, as the private sector has lost some of its former appeal.

And what about Luckin Coffee’s success? This may reflect an old adage: when people become poorer, they tend to move away from international brands—not only because of rising nationalism but also because those brands become less affordable.

These are real challenges facing China today. They may be temporary and will probably be remembered as hiccups along China’s Miracle Mile of progress. The silver lining is that they must be making China less threatening to US war enthusiasts.

-+-+-+-+

Another Setback for Small Modular Reactors

Power, 1 November 2024

On 8 November 2023, I wrote about NuScale’s decision to terminate its Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project with the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) due to massive cost overruns. Despite substantial funding from the Department of Energy, the project had become unviable.

Now, in another blow to the SMR sector, one of the leading manufacturers and developers of microreactors, Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. (USNC), has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This is significant because USNC was considered a major player, with two advanced-stage projects in development.

For nearly twenty years, I’ve been hearing about the potential advantages of SMRs and how they could rejuvenate the nuclear power generation sector. Yet, not a single SMR has been built so far, and with this latest news, it looks like it may still be some time before these reactors become a reality.

-+-+-+-+

The Economist’s Most Liveable Cities

Statista, 1 November 2024

The following chart shows The Economist’s ranking of the top nine most liveable cities, based on factors such as stability, infrastructure, education, and healthcare.

I usually take these kinds of rankings with a grain of salt, and I’m particularly intrigued that Brisbane didn’t make the top nine, while Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland did. That said, Australia is the only country with two cities on the list.

-+-+-+-+

You Tube

Last week, Joe Rogan interviewed Elon Musk, just ahead of the U.S. election. It’s a long conversation—2 hours and 38 minutes. I usually listen to Rogan on Spotify while I’m walking or working out at the gym. Two weeks earlier, he also interviewed Donald Trump, another 2+ hour session. Rogan believes that it takes at least two hours to move past clichés and reach someone’s deeper self. This latest interview focuses less on Elon himself and more on the upcoming election. I recommend giving it a watch if you want insights into what’s happening in the U.S.

-+-+-+-+

Diary

Last Monday, our second grandchild, Hugo, was born. I can already tell he’s going to be a handsome boy, though right now, all he does is drink milk, sleep, and occasionally pee and poo.

Eleanor stayed with us for five days—the first time she’s stayed with us day and night for that long. Meliz and I enjoyed every moment, and the house felt empty after she went back home.

-+-+-+-+

Pascal Hagi

The following video was shot last Sunday morning. Before I leave for Mt Gravatt Farmers Markets, I am trying to get Pascal and Hagi out to the garden:

As usual, Hagi flies out soon after I open the door. Pascal would rather keep watching me.

They stay out until late afterrnoon. Here they are straight after coming back into the house in the evening:

-+-+-+-+

What I Read

Solaris, Stanislaw Lem

Solaris, published in 1961, is perhaps Stanislaw Lem’s most popular book. When I first read it many years ago, I didn’t enjoy it. Recently, however, while reading about the nature of consciousness, I encountered several references to Solaris and decided to give it another try. This time, I found that its meaning is wrapped in layers, like an onion.

On the surface, Solaris is a story of alien contact. The novel begins with the protagonist, Kris Kelvin, arriving at Solaris Station, a research facility on the distant planet of Solaris. This planet is almost entirely covered by a viscous, non-Newtonian fluid that scientists refer to as the “ocean.” Discovered over a century ago, Solaris has intrigued scientists because this “ocean” is suspected to be a sentient entity. However, all attempts to communicate with it have failed. Just before Kelvin’s arrival, there’s been a desperate new attempt to communicate by bombarding areas of the ocean with high-energy beams (though Lem doesn’t explain exactly what this entails). In response, the ocean seems to make its own attempt to understand the humans—a response that deeply unsettles them.

But Solaris is more than just a tale of failed communication with an alien entity. The ocean begins to manifest people from the crew’s memories, creating “visitors” who are unsettlingly real. These visitors believe themselves to be genuine people, though they struggle to explain their presence on the station. This raises complex questions: What kind of consciousness do these visitors possess? Are they “alive”? And if so, is it murder to destroy them?

On an even deeper level, Solaris subtly hints at the possibility that Kris Kelvin himself might be a construct of the ocean’s imagination, though Lem only briefly touches on this idea without fully exploring it.

Solaris has been adapted into film twice: by Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972 and by Steven Soderbergh in 2002. The Tarkovsky version, available on YouTube, is often considered the superior adaptation, though both versions are notably slow-paced. The extended scenes in Tarkovsky’s film reminded me of Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s work, with their almost meditative stretches of silence.

In the end, Solaris is a short, deceptively simple book that invites readers to ponder the nature of consciousness, identity, and the limits of human understanding. It’s well worth revisiting, especially if you’re interested in the philosophical questions it raises.

-+-+-+-+

AT Index

Based on my basket of goods, Australia is 49% more expensive this week compared to Istanbul. Below are the prices in Turkish liras for the items in the basket on 13 October 2024. The exchange rate is 1AUD=22.63TRY.

The following is the plot of AT index. The height of the bar represents how more expensive Australia is.

It is interesting that for the basket of goods I have, the ratio between the Australian and Turkish prices have not changed much since the beginning of July 2024, when I started doing this. The code to create the above tables and the plot is in my github repository and can be downloaded if you are interested.