Creating a Timeless AI Replica of Myself for My Son to Communicate With After I'm Gone

Can Artificial Intelligence get us closer to a version of immortality?

I’m currently reading ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ and ‘Letters from J.D. Rockefeller to his son’. Both books have me thinking a lot about childhood and parenting.

I will be 56 years old when Lane turns 18 and as an older father, my mortality is always on my mind. I know that despite my best efforts to improve my health, any of us could be taken at any time. I don’t want Lane to be fatherless.

I recognize that this is a rather morbid topic to think about but death and change are life’s only certainties. Memento Mori.

It got me thinking about how I could support my child best if I were to pass prematurely. Of course that led to estate planning and establishing a financial trust to secure his economic future in my absence.

But what about the emotional hole and trauma left by the absence of his father?

Not that I am particularly special as an individual, but the role that I play as a father is a rather significant responsibility. I tried to think of ways that I could help fill that hole if god forbid I was not able to be present physically.

That was one of the reasons I wanted to write this newsletter. I am documenting my thoughts, feelings, and perspectives so that they will be available to my son in the future if he is ever curious.

But when the artificial intelligence Chat GPT was released - it represented a huge opportunity.

What if I leveraged artificial intelligence to craft a digital version of myself, enabling Lane to converse with his dad in the future, even in my absence?

By documenting my thinking with writing and recordings - I could build a database that could be used in the future to train an artificial intelligence to create a Virtual Travis Stoliker.

No, it wouldn’t be perfect. Yes, many people would think it’s creepy and scary. But why not try?

Let me show you an example of how this might work…

Go to Chat GPT and ask it to tell you a story in the style of your favorite author or musician. Give it instructions on what you would like the story to be about and watch the magic.

For instance, here is a story that I generated with Chat GPT that is about Lane in the style of Mark Twain:

In the quaint town of Haslett, Michigan, there lived a sprightly young lad named Lane Stoliker, whose mischief was only matched by his charm. With hair as golden as the midsummer cornfields and a grin that could outshine the Fourth of July fireworks, Lane was the embodiment of youthful exuberance. He had a knack for turning the mundane into the marvelous, finding adventure in every nook and cranny of his small town. The local folk often remarked that Lane had a certain twinkle in his eye, a spark that foretold tales of mischief and merriment.

One fine morning, Lane found himself on the banks of Lake Lansing, his pockets bulging with treasures of all sorts – smooth pebbles, colorful marbles, and the occasional lucky penny. As he skimmed stones across the glassy surface, he concocted grand plans of exploration and escapade. It wasn't long before a band of eager comrades gathered around him, drawn by the allure of adventure that seemed to dance around him like fireflies at dusk. With Lane at the helm, they set forth on a day filled with the sort of adventures that would make even Tom Sawyer tip his hat in respect. They were not merely children playing by the lake; they were valiant explorers, noble pirates, and intrepid treasure hunters, masters of their small but boundless world.

That’s pretty darn impressive to me! Give it a shot! If you do any of your own, please share them with me in the comments or in a reply to this email because I would love to read them.

So how does Chat GPT do that? Here is how Chat GPT explains how it works simply.

“Imagine if you had a super smart robot friend that has read almost every book, article, and website out there. When you ask it to write a story, like about Lane Stoliker, it remembers how famous authors like Mark Twain wrote their stories. It doesn't copy them, but it's like the robot has learned a recipe for making a "Mark Twain-style" cake. So, it mixes together words and ideas in a new way, but using that special recipe, to create a story that sounds a lot like something Mark Twain might have written. It's kind of like having a really, really big blender for words and ideas, and this robot knows just the right way to mix them!”

Pretty cool, huh?

So how do I make a Virtual Travis Stoliker? I have to write a lot of content and share a lot of my thoughts in my own words. I need to cover various topics and issues that Lane might have questions about in the future. Then Lane will be able to take that information and put it into an Artificial Intelligence system like Chat GPT to train a new model that mimics my thoughts and views on issues. Then Lane will be able to ask it questions and talk to me as if I’m still around.

That’s about as close to immortality as I can think of.

Will it be perfect? Of course not. Will it make mistakes and have limitations? Absolutely.

But I think it’s worth trying.

Most of my thoughts I will share publicly here on this newsletter. But some I will record privately with videos and audio recordings. I will answer questions of various topics in order to give the AI system enough data to be trained on to be as accurate of a representation of my beliefs as possible. Here are some of the questions that I am answering.

• How did you handle the first time that you had your heart broken?

• What is your fondest childhood memory?

• What role does spirituality play in your life?

• How did you select your romantic partner?

• What was it like to fall in love for the first time?

• What is something you are most embarrassed about?

• What was your proudest moment?

• What are your thoughts on money?

• Is there evil in the world?

• Who was the best person that you ever knew?

• How do you cope with grief?

If I take enough time to answer these questions thoughtfully and honestly, I think that Lane will be able to have a pretty decent understanding of who his father was, what I believed, my flaws, and I hope - a few of my successes. I also hope that Lane can use it as a friend to talk to and get advice from, of course, only if he chooses to.

Let me be clear, as I have said many times before, my goal is to live as long as possible and die quickly. I don’t want to go anywhere. But it’s always good to have a backup plan in case things don’t work out the way I had envisioned. It’s exactly why we have an estate plan and trust.

Wouldn’t you love to be able to talk to a friend or family member that has passed? I know that I sure would love to talk to my Grandpa Mike Brady right now. His fantastic stories always helped me through challenging times.

What do you think? Is this crazy? A good idea? Would you want to do something like this? If you could talk to someone from the past, who would it be? I want to hear from you. Reply to this email, comment below, fill out the poll, or call me anytime.