You may remember this idea as the basis of Domhnall Gleeson’s excellent 2013 episode of “Black Mirror,” the Channel 4 series. If you haven’t seen the series, now’s the time to do so. Here’s the pertinent trailer:
Spoiler alert. Spoilers start… here!
In the episode, a woman mourning the abrupt death of her husband turns to a company that analyzes his social media posts, all the pics and video and text he posted, to create a virtual version of him. His personality formed the basis of a new AI that, for all intents and purposes, is him.
It’s such a good idea, a new startup, Eter9, aims to bring virtual versions of you to digital life. As in “Black Mirror,” the company will analyze your posts to create your digital replica, which it calls your Counterpart.
“The Counterpart is your Virtual Self that will stay in the system and interact with the world just like you would if you were present.”
As in, even if you, say, perish abruptly in an automobile accident, you’ll still be able to have furious arguments about politics with your distant relatives on Facebook. Which may be a huge positive. If you like the idea of trolling your distant relatives for the rest of digital eternity. Or at least until Eter9’s budget runs out.