Time travel isn’t possible (yet), but it seems like one of the many things that a Chatbot can do is connect people with their younger selves.
Or, at least that’s what a woman named Michelle Huang was able to do when she trained an AI Chatbot on her childhood journal so she could “talk” with her younger self.
Here’s how it all started.
i kept diaries for about 10+ years of my life, writing almost everyday — about my dreams, fears, secrets
the content ranged from complaining about homework, to giddiness i felt from talking to my crush
some days were very mundane, some rather insightful pic.twitter.com/CzA1C20U4a
— michelle huang (@michellehuang42) November 27, 2022
After giving her childhood diary entries to the Chatbot, Huang asked the bot a bunch of questions…and she felt like the bot’s answers were pretty on point for what her younger self might have said.
after scribing a ton of journal entries and feeding them into the model, i got working responses that felt eerily similar to how i think i would have responded during that time
first, i asked her a bunch of questions about her about her worldview: pic.twitter.com/u4L62uGcWb
— michelle huang (@michellehuang42) November 27, 2022
Huang then gave the Chatbot a chance to ask her questions and again, the situation felt eerily real to her.
then, i gave her a chance to ask questions to me as well
this specific interaction felt very similar to a normal texting conversation – as if i were texting my past self in real time
i felt like i was reaching through a time portal, disguised as a chatbox pic.twitter.com/Amws9Is8Rp
— michelle huang (@michellehuang42) November 27, 2022
And she said that one interaction in particular stood out to her.
but a couple interactions really stood out to me
1) when i told her that she was loved, cared for, and safe: the words that my past self always wanted to hear
it felt like i was reaching into the past and giving her a giant hug, and i felt it ripple back into the present pic.twitter.com/D3BJ0EbObn
— michelle huang (@michellehuang42) November 27, 2022
And then Huang asked the Chatbot to write a letter from her younger self to her present-day self and the results were pretty incredible.
Take a look below at what happened.
2) when i prompted her to write me a letter into the present day
while reading this, i felt the rumination spirals — the ones that i fall into sometimes when i feel shame or disappointment — melt away a little pic.twitter.com/1eFf7IHjfw
— michelle huang (@michellehuang42) November 27, 2022
It seems like this is only the beginning, friends!
Hang on tight to see what comes next in the world of AI and Chatbots!
