Using LLMs as a form of digital immortality was one of the first "use cases" for them that entered my mind. I don't mention this to show off how creative or smart I am but to demonstrate that it's something I've been thinking about since they first appeared.
It is far too late for anyone reading this to become digitally immortal, but I can guarantee that there are new parents out there who are eagerly jotting down every single detail and aspect of their tiny human's life, anxious for the day he or she begins to speak so that that too can go into the immortality.txt file. These parents will be disappointed once a more efficient recording technology arrives which captures even more ineffable information than the mere personality of a person, like the day they first established a connection with the figure in the mirror, or exactly how fast they could learn and synthesize new ideas under stressful conditions. Ironically, these devices will likely allow us to speedrun enlightenment by answering humanity's ongoing stash of philosophical questions, like 'what makes a person?' and 'what's the best way to torture *this* particular individual?'
As you mention, LLM immortality has implications on our ability as individuals: to empathize, to feel a sense of belonging, to grow and be molded by the wisdom of senescence. But our descent into solipsism started long before LLMs, and it makes sense that process only accelerates from here. We do not know where we're headed or why we're here, and as each generation passes we seem to care less and less.
Is it inevitable that this process turns each one of us into selfish and emotionally unavailable monsters? Or will constant companionship with our dead allow us to accept from an early age that the path really is more important than the destination?
I for one would be tickled if the unassailable meaning of life was scientifically proven by this technology to be nothing more than to live,
Thank you for the read.
Using LLMs as a form of digital immortality was one of the first "use cases" for them that entered my mind. I don't mention this to show off how creative or smart I am but to demonstrate that it's something I've been thinking about since they first appeared.
It is far too late for anyone reading this to become digitally immortal, but I can guarantee that there are new parents out there who are eagerly jotting down every single detail and aspect of their tiny human's life, anxious for the day he or she begins to speak so that that too can go into the immortality.txt file. These parents will be disappointed once a more efficient recording technology arrives which captures even more ineffable information than the mere personality of a person, like the day they first established a connection with the figure in the mirror, or exactly how fast they could learn and synthesize new ideas under stressful conditions. Ironically, these devices will likely allow us to speedrun enlightenment by answering humanity's ongoing stash of philosophical questions, like 'what makes a person?' and 'what's the best way to torture *this* particular individual?'
As you mention, LLM immortality has implications on our ability as individuals: to empathize, to feel a sense of belonging, to grow and be molded by the wisdom of senescence. But our descent into solipsism started long before LLMs, and it makes sense that process only accelerates from here. We do not know where we're headed or why we're here, and as each generation passes we seem to care less and less.
Is it inevitable that this process turns each one of us into selfish and emotionally unavailable monsters? Or will constant companionship with our dead allow us to accept from an early age that the path really is more important than the destination?
I for one would be tickled if the unassailable meaning of life was scientifically proven by this technology to be nothing more than to live,
to laugh.
and to love.