How AI digital doppelgangers could change the way we communicate w/ Victor Riparbelli

[Music] [Applause] So, by a show of hands, how many of us have looked at our own Instagram profile or any social media for that matter and wondered, "Damn, I left I'd love to be friends with this person because, you know, they're always at amazing places. They're eating such good food and I don't even know how they're just so impossibly happy all the time. And then you go back home and then you look at yourself in the mirror at 2 p.m. wearing sweatpants, eating cold leftovers, and that makes you wonder again, are we even the same person after all? Or for that matter, let's talk about LinkedIn. I see people posting things like, "I'm happy to announce my new role as a CEO of my own destiny after finishing a three-year online course." And then there's me trying to sound humble yet impressive at the same time with just one post. Because trust me, I post a lot almost every single day. But jokes aside, it makes me wonder whether are we creating a better versions for oursel online or are we creating a version that we can potentially never live up to. And I said something similar on a podcast that I was recently invited to. I said that there's a version of ourselves that we create for ourselves that exists somewhere here. And then there's our current version, the real version that exists somewhere here. What happens is we try to bridge the gap between the two by constantly trying to level up, by getting better at things. But what we forget is that while we are trying to get up here, there's this version that constantly keeps rising too. The distance over here is just never met. So that makes me wonder that does the same logic apply to the distance between our online versions and our real versions too. In fact, what happens when your online version, your digital doppelganger becomes more successful than you, becomes more authentic than you or more admired. Welcome to the age of digital doppelgangers. And with today's talk, I aim to not just give you an understanding of what's happening around us technologically, but also to help you raise some questions in your mind at the end of this. And mind you, these questions will not necessarily have a right or wrong answers. Most of you will have different opinions and that's perfectly all right. Throughout this talk, I will also be making some assumptions. Some may apply to you, some may never apply to you, and that's perfectly all right, too. So, I want to start by talking about digital experiences. With AI, technology, metavors, we can potentially do anything we want today. We can become anyone we want with AI filters. You can have flawless skin. You can have perfect lighting. You can have six-pack abs. Unlike me with zero trips to the gym like me. No, I'm kidding. I go to the gym. But with the with AI, with metaverse, with VR, with AR, you can also potentially experience things like living in a mansion or attending global concerts or just flying because why not, right? But what I want you to think about is at the end of the day, are these digital experiences doing nothing but keeping all of us in this big loop of mediocrity? Because yes, we can experience those things like snorkeling, skydiving, flying a plane with the help of AR and VR. But at the end of the day, we all know that if we try to experience those things in real life right here, right now, it'll take us a hefty amount from our pocket. And they'll our bank accounts will probably curse us too. Because the thing is, these experiences do give us that instant dopamine hit that we need in that moment. But in reality, our behaviors, our lifestyle or for that matter even our habits might be nowhere near to affording these things in real life. So that brings me to another question is that if you could live as your digital version and you could design it as you want it to be and I mean it literally no traffic, no rent, no bad hair days, would you do it? I think I would because it's tempting, right? But before you answer that, I want to talk about someone. And this person has showed up on my feed multiple times. And the first time I saw her, I was shocked about what's happening around us. I want you to talk about I want to talk about Lil Michaela. She's a 19-year-old Brazilian American model, social activist, and an influencer. She has over a million followers on Instagram. She has worked with brands like Prada and recently she was announced as one of time's most influential people on the planet. But that sounds like just another typical influencer or celebrity, right? The catch is she's not even real. She's an AI or tech persona, online persona created by a tech company. Or in simpler words, she's just an AI influencer. What's funny about her is that she probably earns more per post on her social media accounts than any of us would probably earn in a month. She doesn't get tired. She doesn't age. And she definitely doesn't have student loans like me. Yet, millions follow her for some reason. I have been trying to post content on Instagram for 2 months now, and I barely have a thousand. She has over a million. Brands invest in her. And you know what's crazy? fans relate to her struggle including a recent public breakup with a real person as you can see on the screen. So that brings me to another question is that if a digital being, if an online persona or an AI influencer can have such a big impact around the world us on the world around us, how different are we from our online versions? And where does the line between virtuality and reality blur? Let's talk about our own social medias for for a moment. How different are we online versus offline? Would the person who follows you on Instagram recognize you at 8:00 a.m. in the grocery store buying instant noodles? Be honest about it. There's no right or wrong answer here. And if the answer is a no, how does that make you feel about the distance that I talked about between your online version and your real version? And what happens when slowly slowly with the advancement of AI technologies people start preferring your digital doppelganger over you. And that brings me to yet another question is that if tech companies can create personalities or online personas like Lil Michaela, what stops it from creating the perfect version of you or me? A a version that never stumbles like I did probably a hundred times during the speech. A person that never gets awkward, which I do during networking events. And a person who always knows the right things to say couldn't be me. That brings us to another thing that we all think that these things, every single thing that I talked about here, it doesn't really have a real life impact on us, right? Because it's all in the tech stuff. There's nothing tangible. But these things do have real life impact on real life opportunities. For example, let's talk about recruiters. Recruiters over multiple companies, including some of my some of the ones that I know myself, they look at your LinkedIn before checking your resume. Relationships today begin with a swipe on Tinder. And that makes me wonder that are we doing all of this solely based on what's being presented in front of us? Your reputation, credibility, and in fact even your income at times is solely dependent or very much correlated to how you manage your online presence. A big aspect of this what we all tend to miss is that and I'm going to make an assumption here assumption here and pardon me for that but most of us at least at some point in our lives would have followed someone or swiped right on someone just because they look so good. You know they wear amazing outfits, they have that perfect smile or they go to the gym so they look so fit. And what we tend to forget is that at the end of the day, every single one of us will be publishing or posting the best versions of oursel online. So does that mean that these people are not really beautiful in real life? Of course they are. But so am I and so are you and so is everyone else in this room. Because beauty lies in all of us in different forms. Yet, why does our decision of following someone, liking someone, or swiping right on someone depend solely on what's being presented in front of us? And don't get me wrong, this applies to businesses as well. Why do businesses focus so much on making the perfect pitch or professionals trying to create a perfect presentation? Why do social medias or why do companies focus so much on having a good social presence? Why do their revenues are directly correlated to their social media presence? Why do things like fonts and colors matter so much about who they are as a brand? And even at this point, AI or technologies, our experiences are being altered every single day because of what we leave behind. And I call this or in the tech world world we all call this digital footprints. Your behaviors, your likes, comments, they feed into the algorithm that probably know us better than we know ourselves. And soon as generative AI becomes even more advanced every single minute, it's not far when AI will be able to replicate you. He'll be able to represent you in virtual meetings, negotiate deals on your behalf, or even close deals for that matter. And that brings me to another fascinating yet terrifying questions. Is that if there's a version of you that can do your job better than you, faster than you, and without washroom bakes? What happens to the real you? What happens to me who prepared months for the speech? What happens to all of you who go out every single day working on your assignments or your projects that you do at work? Honestly, I wouldn't mind my AI twin taking my morning meetings for me. But knowing my luck, my AI twin would probably become a millionaire before me as well. So that brings me to the next topic of the conversation today, the metaverse. Companies like Meta are investing billions into creating what we call these online spaces where your online versions, your digital doppelgangers can represent you. They can work, they can socialize, and even own property. And yes, real estate has sold for millions of dollars already on metaverse and digital platforms. And what's interesting or fascinating again is that in these online worlds, you're not limited by physical realities. You want to be 7 ft tall with neon hair and dragon wings, go for it, brother. You want or you want to have a floating mansion and you want to drive a vintage car on the clouds, done. But the question again is, does freedom from reality mean freedom from responsibility? How do things like ethics, trust, relationships translate into a space where you can be anyone? Or what happens? Or rather, who's accountable and responsible when your online version makes a mistake? By a show of hands again, how many of you would actually live 50% of your life in the metaverse? Just be honest about it and keep your hands up if you would be the same version you are here today right now. Exactly my point. The thing is we all feel that AI or technology metaverse has so much influence on us today. Yet barely 1% of you actually raise their hand to that question. So that technically means we are happy with what we are here today right now. Right? So as technology becomes advanced, as you know, even though AI and disruption, innovation, reinvention sounds empowering, there's a flip side to it. The pressure of constantly trying to maintain that perfect online presence, that perfect personality in the online world, that can lead to a feeling of disconnection from reality. Ask yourself, if you only showcase your highlight reels online, does that mean or does that make you uncomfortable with the messy imperfect sides of you? Because what we do is unintentionally we risk creating a gap or that distance that I talked about between our online and our real versions. And as this gap or this distance increases, the harder it is to feel authentic, connected, and even fulfilled for that matter. So another question as we wrap up for today is if there was or with these tech advancements with your AI versions being almost or near to perfect or just AI taking over meta taking over everything. How do you plan on staying real? How do you plan on building or fostering those relationships that you have made with the people around you? I want you to leave with another thought today is that innovation is about possibilities but reinvention is about the choices that you make. Stay with me. Innovation is about possibilities but reinvention is about the choices that you make. So yes, with the advancements of AI, technology and everything happening around us, you can be involved in it. But then don't forget to reinvent the most important aspect, the most important connection. It's the one that we have with ourselves and the people around us. So go ahead, embrace AI. Become the best online version of yourself. just probably don't let that twin steal your job because the most powerful, the most influential version of you isn't the one that the world sees online. It's the one that's real, that's present, and most importantly is unapologetically human. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your time and thank you for coming to my TED talk.