Research

Future You: A Conversation with an AI-Generated Future Self Reduces Anxiety, Negative Emotions, and Increases Future Self-Continuity

To appear in IEEE Frontier in Education

We introduce "Future You," an interactive, brief, single-session, digital chat intervention designed to improve future self-continuity--the degree of connection an individual feels with a temporally distant future self--a characteristic that is positively related to mental health and wellbeing. Our system allows users to chat with a relatable yet AI-powered virtual version of their future selves that is tuned to their future goals and personal qualities. To make the conversation realistic, the system generates a "synthetic memory"--a unique backstory for each user--that creates a throughline between the user's present age (between 18-30) and their life at age 60. The "Future You" character also adopts the persona of an age-progressed image of the user's present self. After a brief interaction with the "Future You" character, users reported decreased anxiety, and increased future self-continuity. This is the first study successfully demonstrating the use of personalized AI-generated characters to improve users' future self-continuity and wellbeing.

Q+A

What happens to my data?

We anonymize and collect your survey responses and your conversation with your future self for further research to improve Future You.

How accurate is Future You?

Future You cannot predict specific details about your future life–rather, it aims to paint a vivid and realistic picture of what your future life could be like. Our goal is to help illuminate future pathways that may otherwise seem ambiguous, uncertain, or unclear.

Why doesn’t my future self seem like me?

The conversation with the future self is generated in real-time via a large language model that has been personalized based on a pre-intervention survey assessing user future goals and personal qualities. Therefore, its responses are largely dependent on both its foundational model and the data collected in the pre-intervention survey. We recommend being as detailed as possible in the initial survey for the best possible experience.

Is this tool right for me?

Future You is an intervention grounded in empirical and theoretical research on the benefits of future self-continuity as it relates to improvements in long-term thinking, academic performance, financial savings, and mental health and wellbeing. The primary goal of this project is to support reflection on future paths. Read more about our research in our preprint article, linked here.

Curious about what’s next for Future You?

We’re currently looking to make the platform more accessible and to collaborate with institutions to support young people in envisioning their futures. To learn more about ways you can get involved, contact us here or email us at futureyoumit@gmail.com

Team

Pat Pataranutaporn, MIT

Kavin Winson, KBTG

Peggy Yin, Harvard University

Auttasak Lapapirojn, KBTG

Monchai Lertsutthiwong, KBTG

Hal Hershfield, UCLA

Pattie Maes, MIT

Thanawit Tae Prasongpongchai , KBTG

The Project is supported by KBTG