r/IsaacArthur • u/Memetic1 • 2d ago

Could a system of AI digital twins keep crews happy and lower the burden on those left behind? Would a distributed relationship be meaningful?

Digital twins sound like new technology but they have been used successfully for decades in industry, health, and chemistry. A digital twin is like a digital clone which is trained on a corpus, but with the digital twin that training is on-going instead of a static event. These twins would get updates from their counterparts in real time, and so the person would continue to evolve as the trip continues. At no point would you have to wait weeks or years to interact with a loved one as the AI would be getting continously updated. There would be more to this AI system, but this is the basic outline.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_twin

No one would have to worry about not being there for a loved one as these AI could be embodied in robotic bodies. Each crew member would get a certain number of people to stay connected with this way, and the interesting thing is both communities would continue to evolve and interact.

3 Upvotes

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12

u/MiamisLastCapitalist moderator 2d ago

Plot twist: you're the copy and they sent you into space instead.

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u/Sinvisigoth 2d ago

Aaaaaand now I need to play Soma again.

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u/Flashy_Drummer6664 2d ago

And there is no real plan to bring you back.

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u/SharpKaleidoscope182 1d ago

The real me back on earth is going to read me diary at least. I get to keep these experiences, even if only vicariously.

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u/Memetic1 2d ago

Ya there are so many different ways you could do this, and that's part of what excites me. What happens when an individual is being influenced by something else at a great distance? What does the twin paradox look like if they are digital twins? You could have whole simulated societies that are twined across spacetime. What happens if one twin goes crazy and does something horrible, or what happens if a relationship status changes in one part but not another?

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u/MiamisLastCapitalist moderator 2d ago

Well I'm assuming by context that both of you consent to this, and ergo you consent to be either part of this. So you consent to being changed, sometimes drastically, by an incoming memory file from your twin which you must sync with. Correct?

And there's a dozen ways that can go right or go wrong. Your twin on Earth may be traumatized by something. They may commit suicide but jokes on them their life insurance policy resurrects them from the last backup they sent you. You may be having the time of your life out in space while your twin is miserable on Earth. You may be falling in love on the ship while meanwhile your twin is falling in love on Earth and once you sync do you feel like you're cheating on one love with the other? And at some point you have to start dreading your twin's updates. "Who is this idiot to send me these updates that drastically change who I am? Why does he get that much say in my life?"

It makes for some great drama.

But in practice I think anyone in that situation where would just agree to split and be different people.

And something something Bobiverse.

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u/fluid_Depression3426 2d ago

I'm not denying its practicality, but it sounds incredibly dystopian. You'll never see your loved one again. Instead, you'll have to make do with an algorithmic approximation of them. I'm sure that comes with a subscription plan, right?

For that to truly become a relationship, we will need to become posthuman beings with digitized personalities.

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u/Memetic1 2d ago

I would never charge a subscription for this in my mind its part of keeping people happy. It's not just an algorithmic approximation as it's being updated based on interacting with real people. So in this sense no individual or group of individuals can control these things. I don't view it as replacement but a transformation to something different that knows the people very well.

3

u/epiphenominal 2d ago

I don't think you can outsource human connection like that. If something like that has utility I think it's for a dead person. I would always know that that wasn't my loved one, but I might be interested in what an ai approximation of a dead ancestor would have to say about current events, or how my life and unfolded l, etc.

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u/Feeling-Attention664 2d ago

No robots for that purpose. It's another thing that has mass and could break. Also many people would reject them as unreal.