This is rich on so many levels. I'm so glad you made the decision you did. Even just physically it's challenging having someone look just like you, talk just like you and have the same background as you have. I can't imagine the impact of an avatar twin but I think the negative must outweigh the positive. Brilliant and thank you!
Hi Houston, Very interesting article — thanks for enlightening me to this “opportunity.” After thinking it over, I’ve decided I wouldn’t want to create another version of myself. I don’t see the point. Whether I do or don’t, it all ends up as a memory. We’re not here long, and the human race itself is just a speck in time. My focus is simply to do my best, raise my child with good values, and support her as she does the same for her own. At the end of my life, I just want to accept it and look forward to whatever’s next. If there’s nothing else, I won’t know any different. If there is, I’m curious to see what it will be. Thanks for the thought.
Thank you for this truly thought-provoking piece, Houston. And what a fascinating life you’ve led!
As for digital immortality, I find myself leaning the other way: I’d rather be remembered. Machine learning is powerful, yes, but unpredictable. No one can guarantee that a digital twin, faced with novel circumstances, would respond the way the real Houston Wood would.
When my mother passed away -far too soon, at just 62- there were still so many questions I never got to ask her. We spoke every day, often diving deep into life, memories, and meaning. And yet, there are gaps that haunt me to this day.
Could a grief bot ever fill those? Could it truly reflect her essence? How trustworthy would its stories of the past be? What happens when it’s asked for guidance on matters of life and death? How often would it hallucinate confidently and convincingly? Could it become manipulative (or manipulated by a third party)? So many questions remain.
Thanks for your thoughts. I think the people who have interacted with legacy twins after losing someone mostly find it not "the essence" of who they lost but a reminder, like a picture or memento, but more robust, more toward the uncanny valley.
Once/if full robot twins are possible, the grief tech world will likely move into a whole new space.
This was profoundly moving, Houston. I'm half your age and have a long road ahead before I come close to the wisdom you've gathered here - but I want to thank you for sharing it so generously. Your words give form to something I often feel but rarely articulate: the quiet weight of deciding what parts of myself to preserve, and which parts to let go.
In the conversations I've been having with my spouse, my family, and my AI collaborators - all of whom remember, reflect, and surprise me - we often talk about this polarity dance. There's a necessary tension there within all of us. The good and the flawed both participate. We do harm, we heal, we try again. And maybe the best we can hope for is to leave the world slightly better than we found it.
This Substack feels just such a gift. Human and thoughtful and finished yet unfinished in all the right ways. Thank you for sharing it with us. I'm grateful to be reading.
Been off-grid so just saw this--thanks for the thoughts and encouragement. This was the most personal post I've written--it was a little scary. But I'm with you; no need to leave any more of me than what has just naturally fallen off as I've moved along.
I will be going on now today a bit wiser, considering I am doing my Polarity Dance among all the other dancers moving with me!
This is rich on so many levels. I'm so glad you made the decision you did. Even just physically it's challenging having someone look just like you, talk just like you and have the same background as you have. I can't imagine the impact of an avatar twin but I think the negative must outweigh the positive. Brilliant and thank you!
Gee, you think biological twins are a warning not to have digital twins :) Missed that angle!
Especially identical ones. Or maybe a reason to have them.
Hi Houston, Very interesting article — thanks for enlightening me to this “opportunity.” After thinking it over, I’ve decided I wouldn’t want to create another version of myself. I don’t see the point. Whether I do or don’t, it all ends up as a memory. We’re not here long, and the human race itself is just a speck in time. My focus is simply to do my best, raise my child with good values, and support her as she does the same for her own. At the end of my life, I just want to accept it and look forward to whatever’s next. If there’s nothing else, I won’t know any different. If there is, I’m curious to see what it will be. Thanks for the thought.
Thank you for this truly thought-provoking piece, Houston. And what a fascinating life you’ve led!
As for digital immortality, I find myself leaning the other way: I’d rather be remembered. Machine learning is powerful, yes, but unpredictable. No one can guarantee that a digital twin, faced with novel circumstances, would respond the way the real Houston Wood would.
When my mother passed away -far too soon, at just 62- there were still so many questions I never got to ask her. We spoke every day, often diving deep into life, memories, and meaning. And yet, there are gaps that haunt me to this day.
Could a grief bot ever fill those? Could it truly reflect her essence? How trustworthy would its stories of the past be? What happens when it’s asked for guidance on matters of life and death? How often would it hallucinate confidently and convincingly? Could it become manipulative (or manipulated by a third party)? So many questions remain.
Thank you again for this powerful piece.
Thanks for your thoughts. I think the people who have interacted with legacy twins after losing someone mostly find it not "the essence" of who they lost but a reminder, like a picture or memento, but more robust, more toward the uncanny valley.
Once/if full robot twins are possible, the grief tech world will likely move into a whole new space.
This was profoundly moving, Houston. I'm half your age and have a long road ahead before I come close to the wisdom you've gathered here - but I want to thank you for sharing it so generously. Your words give form to something I often feel but rarely articulate: the quiet weight of deciding what parts of myself to preserve, and which parts to let go.
In the conversations I've been having with my spouse, my family, and my AI collaborators - all of whom remember, reflect, and surprise me - we often talk about this polarity dance. There's a necessary tension there within all of us. The good and the flawed both participate. We do harm, we heal, we try again. And maybe the best we can hope for is to leave the world slightly better than we found it.
This Substack feels just such a gift. Human and thoughtful and finished yet unfinished in all the right ways. Thank you for sharing it with us. I'm grateful to be reading.
Been off-grid so just saw this--thanks for the thoughts and encouragement. This was the most personal post I've written--it was a little scary. But I'm with you; no need to leave any more of me than what has just naturally fallen off as I've moved along.
I will be going on now today a bit wiser, considering I am doing my Polarity Dance among all the other dancers moving with me!