One of the most exciting things that technology can do, thanks to the intersection of exponential advances in server hardware, AI, personal computing, etc., is to move from a basic utility to a personalized companion. These so-called ‘digital twin’ assistants have the potential to act as our second selves, helping us interact with our environment, manage relationships, and achieve our personal and professional goals.
The key to these digital twins’ usefulness is the quality of data we provide these assistants. It's all about context. It's not enough to just ask your digital twin to help you; you need to feed it rich, high-quality information so that it understands you and your world.
Take relationships, for instance. The more your assistant understands about who you trust, who trusts you, your history with people, and how they prefer to be communicated with, the better it can automate and handle your interactions. This rich relational context, as I like to call it, is vital.
And then there are your aspirations. It's essential for your digital twin to understand your goals. Are you trying to build a business, develop a skill, or perhaps improve your health? By knowing what you find challenging or tedious, your assistant can step in to automate those tasks, leaving you with more time and energy to focus on what you love.
The principle is simple: the higher fidelity the input data, the more useful the output. In tech speak, we say 'garbage in, garbage out'. A digital twin can only truly serve you if you provide it with the information that enables it to act on your behalf effectively.
The concept of the digital twin is, I believe, a transformative one. I'm particularly impressed by the work being done by the ThreeFold team. Their approach to this technology could fundamentally alter how we interact with technology, making it an extension of our selves rather than just a tool.
The ultimate goal is to free ourselves from the menial and mundane. We want to spend our time being creative, enjoying nature, immersing ourselves in activities that keep us in a flow state. To achieve this, we need our digital twins. But for these assistants to be useful, we need to populate them with high-quality data that represents who we are, our aspirations, and our network.
This is an exciting prospect, a true merger of our digital and physical selves. But it's a two-way street. The more we invest in our digital twins, the more they can help us be the best version of ourselves. That's the kind of future I am striving for.