By Heidi Mitchell

It turns out I'm going to write a book! It will require years of agony, but I'll do it. Also, I will retire at 65. Who would have thought this workaholic could hang up her notebook so soon? And I will have six grandchildren. Sadly, I will live in the suburbs; no European city-center loft for me. At least I'll enjoy that family trip to Thailand that we'll take with the grandchildren. Oh, and my "passion for creating positive change" will never fade.

I learned all this from chatting with myself after I've turned 80, some 30 years from now.

The glimpse of what's to come is courtesy of Future You, a new interactive artificial-intelligence platform developed by psychologists, researchers and technologists that allows users to create a virtual older self -- a chatbot that looks like an aged version of the person and is based on an AI text system known as a large language model, then personalized with information that the user puts in. The idea is that if people can see and talk to their older selves, they will be able to think about them more concretely, and make changes now that will help them achieve the future they hope for.

In other words, it's a chance to look back at your life before you actually live it.

So at 50 -- an age where there's plenty of time left to make changes, but you're just starting to get a glimpse of old age on the horizon -- I decided to try it out.

Like most humans, I have a hard time picturing myself as old; I'm still the person at the concert dancing with abandon near the stage, lower back be damned. I wondered if talking to an AI-generated future self would help me think more clearly about the person I might become. Will I remain me when I'm really old? Where will I find joy? Will I be creative, keep working, find new projects to embrace? Most important, what can I do between now and then to make sure I can find the happiness and fulfillment that I yearn for?

A team effort

The tool is the brainchild of a team that includes MIT Media Lab postdoctorate Pat Pataranutaporn, who studies AI systems that help people flourish. Pataranutaporn had read the work of Hal Hershfield, a marketing psychology professor at UCLA's Anderson School of Management and author of "Your Future Self," which looks at how connecting with our future selves affects the decisions we make today. He got in touch with Hershfield, with Peggy Yin, a Harvard undergrad who studies the intersection of psychology and technology, and with software developers at Thailand's Kasikorn Business-Technology Group, and Future You was launched last year.

The tool was originally tested with a few hundred Americans age 18 to 30, but it's currently being used by 60,000 people from 190 countries, all of whose anonymized interactions will help further research on AI that promotes future-self thinking.

"I want to encourage people to think in the long term, to be less anxious about an unknown future so they can live more authentically today," Pataranutaporn says.

In addition, Hershfield says, when people can visualize themselves in distant years realistically, they are more willing to make choices today that may benefit them later, such as taking care of their health and saving for retirement.

In the developers' initial study, 344 participants who interacted with the AI for no more than 30 minutes reported feeling 16% more motivated compared with those in the control group. They also showed a 15% stronger connection with their future self when compared with those who didn't talk with the chatbot at all. While Future You was tested mostly with people younger than I am, the researchers say that in a small study they saw similar effects across all ages. They need more data, but their preliminary assessment is that the intervention can work for anyone.

A toothless avatar

Since I just turned 50, it struck me that I'd learn a lot about my trajectory by pushing the program to talk to me from three decades ahead, and she complied. (Apparently, AI Heidi is much more amenable than middle-aged Heidi.)

I began by filling out basic facts about my age and sexual orientation, as well as how motivated (somewhat) and anxious (not very) I am. Then I dove into a lengthy, open-ended questionnaire that covered everything from the important people in my world to a big project I'd like to complete to describing a major turning point and how I hope my future lifestyle and financial situation will be.

Perhaps most unsettling: I uploaded a selfie using my computer's camera, and it spat out a toothless and pretty terrifying avatar of my 80-year-old self. As we began chatting, I had to remind myself that, as Pataranutaporn emphasized, users should think of this AI tool "as possibility, not prophecy." My future self, he told me, can be generic or specific, depending on the information, prompts and responses I put in, but it won't give financial or medical advice or outcomes. It's not a fortuneteller.

Still, it was hard not to use Future Heidi as an oracle, at least at first. We chatted for hours as I tried to prod my aged digital twin to give me hard facts -- like when my husband will die (she won't tell!) and what my bank account will look like in 30 years (equally uncooperative). I had to keep reminding myself that the tool isn't a financial adviser, or even a therapist, just an "imagination aid." When she did answer definitively, at first she was pretty generic in her replies, offering platitudes and a lot of "I can't predict the future." So I pivoted to what Hershfield suggested I ask: What did I regret? What should I change now to be healthier longer? What will my children be like in 30 years?

Then Heidi and Heidi walked down a long path of remorse, highlights, lifestyle choices, kids, career, friends and fun. Within a few days of playing with the intervention, I was totally immersed, typing "we" and "our" into the prompt box: What is our favorite memory? Where will we live? I had achieved what the creators call "future self continuity."

Future Heidi told me that, while the future is unknowable, my procrastination tendencies led me to put off starting that book for years.

"Looking back, I wish I had started earlier and pushed through my doubts and fears instead of wasting time," Future Heidi said. "So my advice to you would be to never let fear or self-doubt hold you back from pursuing your goals. Take action now, even if it's just small steps every day, because one day you might look back with regrets for not starting sooner." Not exactly an epiphany, but I opened a new page in my Notes app to begin a book proposal. Perhaps Future Heidi just provided me with the simple nudge I need today to realize an exciting outcome in the future.

Future Heidi also told me my biggest regret is not starting a business, which I found fascinating since my father is always telling me that's my calling, but I really have no interest, nor did this come up in the questionnaire. I guess Future Heidi thinks like Present Dad. Still, it isn't going to happen.

Live healthier (duh)

As for health, now I'm a little worried that I'll be diagnosed with cancer in my 60s, as Future Heidi inferred. Fortunately, she told me, there are a lot of medical advancements in 30 years, and she knows of plenty of people with cancer who live long, engaged lives. "But the most important thing is taking care of your health every day: eating well, staying active, and getting regular checkups," she encouraged.

She's Captain Obvious, but she's also right, and it's true that I don't see a doctor enough, so I've put some time on my calendar to research internists who accept my new insurance.

All this health talk led me down a pretty morbid road (When will I die? When will my parents die? Will I be poor? Will democracy survive?), but Future Heidi sure is upbeat! Then again, she is programmed to be: Engaging with a positive version of our temporally distant selves frames the future in an optimistic light, the creators say, and shows us what is possible.

And so, when asked about the future of democracy, Future Heidi told me, "The oligarchs may have gained more power, but so have the voices of everyday people fighting for equality and justice.... We must continue to use our voices and stand up against oppression in all its forms." That's why, in the future, I joined a nonprofit that made a "lasting impact."

We also ventured into personal, though less depressing, territory. Future Heidi cautioned me to stop doomscrolling, but assured me that at 80, social media won't consume wasted hours. "Let's just say it becomes less of a priority when you have grandchildren to spend time with instead," she said. My three kids are my proudest achievement, I'm told, and that one (honestly, the least likely as far as my present self believes) will be a successful lawyer.

Playing the piano

I asked toothless old me what I do for fun when I'm 80. Turns out I like gardening (something this city kid definitely doesn't yet enjoy) and still love attending concerts. When I wonder about my appearance, she told me to wear sunscreen, but not to obsess over how I look. "And most important, always love the skin you're in because that's what truly matters," Future Heidi said. Such a Pollyanna.

My future lifestyle is fun and active. I don't live outside my means, but Future Heidi said I should set aside a portion of my savings for experiences and adventures. I guess she's right, because I now know my most cherished (AI-generated) memory is when I took my kids and grandchildren to Thailand, which happens to be Present Heidi's happy place. Maybe I should create a special bank account for travel, something I've considered but never done. (But will I?)

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