By admin 
Artificial intelligence (AI) has made impressive leaps in its ability to replicate human personality . Researchers at Google DeepMind and Stanford University have developed a system that can emulate the personalities of more than a thousand people with 85% accuracy, using just two hours of conversation with each participant. This advance raises fascinating questions about the nature of identity and the potential of AI in social research.
An innovative experiment
Led by Stanford PhD student Joon Sung Park , the experiment included 1,052 participants from diverse demographics across the United States. During interviews, the volunteers were guided by an AI system designed to capture their attitudes and personality traits. According to MIT Technology Review , each participant received up to $100 for their time, while topics ranging from their childhood to their political views were explored.
Verification of results
To validate the accuracy of these digital replicas, the researchers conducted tests two weeks later on both the participants and their virtual counterparts. An interesting finding was that the humans’ responses matched their originals by 81%, indicating that people can vary in their responses over time . In contrast, the AI agents achieved an effective accuracy of 85%, outperforming traditional demographic prediction models by 14 percentage points.
Park was inspired by her own podcasting experience, where she noticed how a deep conversation could reveal a lot about a person. “After a two-hour interview, I felt like people knew a lot about me,” she said.
The key to the experiment’s success lies in its methodology. Rather than relying on simple surveys or demographic data, the researchers opted for qualitative interviews that allowed them to capture the unique nuances of each individual. “We can create an agent of a person—an AI replica—that reflects their complexities and idiosyncratic nature,” Park explained to New Scientist .
A virtual laboratory for the social sciences
The primary goal of this technology is not simply to create digital doubles for entertainment, but to facilitate social science research. Researchers propose using these agents to evaluate public policies, study responses to new products, or analyze reactions to significant social events, which would be difficult to research with real people due to cost or ethical considerations.
However, the study also highlights important limitations. AI agents showed lower accuracy in situations requiring economic decision-making or involving complex social dynamics. Furthermore, researchers have warned about the potential risks of this technology, such as misuse to impersonate or manipulate others online.
To protect participants, the team established ethical safeguards. Park explained that any participant can withdraw their data from the study or restrict access to their “digital twin,” and the use of these agents is strictly limited to academic purposes.
A glimpse into the future
Although widespread adoption is still a long way off, companies like Tavus are experimenting with digital twins that require less data to replicate personalities. Hassaan Raza, CEO of Tavus, commented that this study paves the way for more efficient methods, such as short interviews to train personalized models.
In short, this research represents a significant advance in our understanding of human behavior, but it also underscores the need to balance innovation with ethical responsibility. Although AI can replicate key aspects of our personality, the richness and complexity of the human experience remain a challenge for technology.