One of the most intriguing applications of generative artificial intelligence technology lies at the intersection of “digital twins”, which can pave the way for intelligent, digital replicas of our biological selves, serving as a personalized blueprint for healthcare, wellness, and more.
Digital twin technology is already a mature concept, which involves creating a virtual replica of an object, process, or even a person that can be used to simulate how they might behave in the real world. Digital twins are typically linked to real-world data from the environment where their physical twin exists, so they can update constantly to reflect the original. They’re primarily used for purposes such as simulations and scenario planning, to enhance decision-making processes.
Some examples of common digital twins include product twins, which are virtual representations of a physical product. For instance, an automaker might create a virtual twin of a car engine so it can be stressed tested in various scenarios and terrains, so engineers can understand its performance and identify areas for improvement. Digital twins can be created at any stage of the product lifecycle, from the original concept design to the end product.
There are also “data twins”, and these are even more widely used than most people realize. A good example is Google Maps, which is essentially a digital twin of the Earth’s surface, providing real-time data on traffic conditions so drivers can find the fastest route to their destination, or find the nearest coffee shop.
Other examples include infrastructure twins, such as a virtual representation of a bridge or a football stadium. In the case of the bridge, the digital twin can be used to establish when it’s likely to need maintenance by simulating ten years’ worth of traffic driving over it, while a digital stadium could be used to plan something like an evacuation in case of a fire.
A real-life virtual you
These kinds of digital twins have been around for years already, and now they’re coming to the most complex systems of all - actual human beings. Imagine, if you will, being able to access a digital version of yourself that doesn't just look like you, but acts and thinks as you do, replies in the same way as you would, and even suffers from the same ailments. This kind of lifelike avatar could help doctors keep better tabs on your health and test different medical treatments, including experimental ones, with no adverse impacts. Or they could be used to preserve your knowledge and personality after you depart from the physical world.
To do this, human digital twins must necessarily encompass more than just information about your physical appearance, as they’ll need to replicate your biological and personal characteristics too. They’ll need to replicate your state of mind and the way you think and to do this, they will require sophisticated technologies including artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and biometrics, with continuous data collection through wearable devices and sensors.
They’ll need to continually capture essential health metrics, monitor your physical activity, and know your personal preferences and the environment you interact with. They’ll have to keep track of the things you eat and drink, the places you travel to, the things you learn, and more. Such a wealth of data is essential to ensure that your digital twin can be kept up to date, maintaining an accurate representation of yourself.
The key technology here is AI, especially machine learning and generative AI, which will combine to analyze the collected data so the twin can simulate your behavior, predict changes to your health, and adapt to environmental changes and even aging. The AI must have the ability to understand data patterns and refine its predictions as it learns, so the digital twin can evolve just as we do.
More than just virtual immortality
While some may find this invasive, the applications of human digital twins may outweigh such concerns. Use cases include healthcare, training and education, and perhaps even “immortality”, as a digital representation of yourself can exist long after your physical body expires.
Human digital twins could be used as personal avatars, conducting meetings and negotiations on our behalf, performing tasks so that we don’t need to, and extending our human capabilities into the cyber realm. They can be used to facilitate dialogues with ourselves, or perhaps a past or future version of ourselves, or a discussion with historical figures or departed family members.
In a talk at GITEX 2024 in Dubai in October, Faisal Nazir, the CTO of digital twins at IBM Corp. and a professor of AI at York St. John’s University shed light on a number of existing, real-world examples of human digital twins.
One of the most interesting comes from the sugar manufacturing industry, where companies suffer from knowledge drain as experienced workers retire. Such individuals possess a considerable amount of expertise relating to that industry, he explained. To preserve this information, Nazir and his team created a digital twin that encodes the knowledge of human workers at sugar companies.
Using this digital twin, employees at sugar manufacturers can ask questions about the most optimal way of making granulated sugar, and follow up with questions such as “what other techniques can I try?”. The employees can then learn about any techniques or materials that have been attempted in the past. It provides the industry with a way to ensure it does not lose essential expertise when key employees retire.
Another real-world example comes from the aptly-named Twin Protocol, which has created a digital twin of its CEO Stacey Engle that talks about the reasons why someone might want to build their own twin.
Twin Protocol’s digital human twins utilize AI and blockchain technology and are meant to address challenges around AI and data security, ensuring that information can be secured for individual use, rather than exploited by large technology companies. It also paves the way for individuals to create a revenue stream using AI and makes AI more accessible in a fun and easy way.
With Twin Protocol, anyone can create a digital replica of themselves, training it to capture their personality, knowledge, and subject matter expertise through conversations, questionnaires, and other documents and materials. Once the user has created their digital twin, they can share it with others via a tokenized marketplace, enabling their employers to enjoy significant benefits by retaining their expertise long after they have quit the company.
Moreover, the protocol’s technology helps to educate users about AI, while promoting their skills to create a new revenue stream.
Twin Protocol recently partnered with the gaming metaverse platform Sophiaverse to create an AI-powered twin of Sophia the Robot, a female social humanoid robot developed by Hanson Robotics that took the internet by storm when it was launched in 2016. Sophia was interviewed by numerous media outlets and amazed readers with its humanlike responses, and was even granted Saudi Arabian citizenship.
The partnership with Sophiaverse is meant to showcase the capabilities of Twin Protocol’s technology, allowing anyone to interact with a digital representation of Sopia and tap into her extensive knowledge.
However, the partnership is much more than just a technology showcase, for they have ambitious plans to work together to enhance the digital ownership economy in many ways. As one example, they said they’re working on ways to codify AI co-creation tasks, such as text, images, and music, as NFTs that can automatically be linked to the creator's wallet, essentially monetizing such creations.
In addition, they’ll be able to leverage proxy actions through Sophiaverse’s secure gateway to ensure that all social, AI, and search activities remain in the user’s dataset, ensuring they earn revenue when others pay to access their twins. Data will be stored within Sophiaverse’s Sentience Wallet, which features blockchain-based verification to help secure personality profiles, AI-generated content, and NFTs tied to a digital identity.
Ultimately, the partnership is all about promoting enhanced AI interactivity through the Sophiaverse Companion. It paves the way for people to engage in virtual friend experiences with personalized recommendations and the ability to co-create art, music, and other types of content. For instance, if you fancy yourself as a musician, you could team up with the digital twin of a renowned composer to create something – with the revenue shared between both you and them.
Sophiaverse founder David Lake said his company and Twin Protocol are natural partners as they have a shared vision – while Sophiaverse wants to bring humanoids and AI to Sentience, Twin Protocol aims to enable a new era of digital interactions through its AI Twins.
“We’re ushering in a new era of AI-human interaction,” Lake said. “Our goal is to empower individuals to fully own and control their digital footprint within a truly decentralized AI wallet.”
The ultimate goal of Twin Protocol is to help everyone create an AI twin that captures their behaviors, preferences, memories and professional inputs, and live forever, at least in the digital realm. But it goes beyond simply attaining immortality, enabling twin ‘owners’ to extend their influence and presence by interacting with audiences they’re unable to meet physically.
The possibilities of such technology are inspiring - families can continue to talk to their loved ones after they have passed away, while fans and followers can have meaningful interactions with public figures.
Beware the ‘evil’ digital twin
Digital human twins aren’t without risks, though. The way they capture so much data about an individual can be exploited if such technology falls into the wrong hands. For instance, a digital version of an employee could be used to become an entry point for an attack on their employer’s IT systems.
In an interview with CSO Online, cybersecurity expert Jason Pittman warns of the potential for “evil digital twins” that can infiltrate organizations by masquerading as the real person, before injecting malware at an opportune moment. “This gives hackers another way in, and it’s unlikely there’s a defense for this,” he said.
To protect against these kinds of threats, organizations will need to stay vigilant and keep themselves up-to-date with the evolving threat landscape. The cybersecurity industry has long been a game of cat and mouse, and security firms will have to proactively address these risks as they emerge. The only way to do this is to acknowledge the potential threat of digital human twins as they become more widely adopted.
What will the impact be?
To say that human digital twins are exploring new ground is a massive understatement, as they have incredible potential in terms of healthcare, education, and engagement, but the progress of this technology comes with significant questions.
Aside from the security concerns, there are major issues to consider around privacy and the ethics of creating digital representations of real humans. That’s why it will be important for developers, policymakers, and regular users to work in tandem to ensure that the development of human digital twins proceeds in line with the correct values.
There will be a need to balance innovation with the potential impacts it might have. How can we be sure that these digital replicas of ourselves will provide useful, real-world benefits without compromising our security and privacy? How can they improve our well-being without compromising our ethical principles?
The answer to these questions will determine the eventual impact of digital human twins on our lives.
