'Future You' AI lets you speak to a 60-year-old version of yourself — and it has surprising wellbeing benefits

Portrait of black grandmother with teenager granddaughter both are looking into the camera. .

For the first time, people can talk with an older version of themselves about their lives and aspirations, using an advanced artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot, complete with a photographic avatar of their future face.

The Future You project, created by researchers at MIT Media Lab and international collaborators, uses AI to create a simulation of a user's 60- to 70-year-old self. They detailed the project in a paper published Oct. 1 to the preprint database arXiv.