Metaidentity and the end of death

The general understanding about peoples’ identities is changing completely in the Age of Information: using resources that allow a fragmented communication with one another, we occupy different public spaces simultaneously and instantaneously. In the past decades, the internet was taken over with digital identities in several platforms - like social media. This movement established a way for people to present themselves in different spaces, both real and virtual, expanding the concept of individual presence. Adding to the constant evolution of previous resources, we have new virtual reality technologies in the making like metaverse; this type of technology allows people to experiment, making their individual representation mirror their own identity. Basically, this metaidentity can potentially transcend human representation in space and time. 

The evolution of this type of technology puts in check all that is previously known about identity. The German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) treated identity using a logic and mathematical approach, thus defining that each individual is constituted by intrinsic traits which makes one distinguishable in multiplicity [1]. He also pointed out that, in case one individual shares similarity and likeness with another, we are in fact referring to the same being or entity. The principles Leibniz brings forth to elaborate on this idea are, respectively, difference and individuation. From Leibniz’s Law of The Identity of Indiscernibles comes the idea that no two individuals share the same traits. 

However, in 1991, David Gelernt’s Digital Twins theory [2], published on Mirror Worlds, proposed that two objects can be identical without necessarily being the same. This concept was widely adopted by engineers and manufacturers, propelled by the rapid growth of software technology, and it was used to improve the management of product cycle through reproduction of identical elements, which allowed the simulation of performance with no need to expose the product in the real world. These digital twins are a work in progress and they demand a certain physicality, which includes shape, position, gestures, status and movement. Why not use the same technology for human profiles in virtual reality?

With his work, David Gelernter forecasted the appearance of “mirror universes”, something quite similar to what we now understand as the metaverse. These virtual reality environments were developed to be a new dimension of the human experience and were built using the finest information technology: data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence; they also include the possibility of continuous learning for further evolution. This new dimension is populated by digital twins of the material world. They take shape in digital replicas of popular spots around the world, objects easily recognizable by the majority and also entities - both representations of people we know and new entities born in this environment. 

The artificial entities, either copies or new ones, are ruled by artificial intelligence and inhabit these virtual spaces autonomously enough to be just like what they are replicating -  which will make it hard, in the future, to distinguish if they are either representing someone in the material world or if they’re just a machine creation based on data about someone or something. The digital twin that copies someone’s specific traits is constantly updated and has their original version as input. At some point, machine learning and processing will allow the digital twins to be a much more realistic representation of the individual it is based on, which will help broaden the concept of identity. If such identities are continuously updated and perfected in the virtual environment, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave may need some revisiting: the spiritual realm, where everything is ideal and perfect, and is replicated imperfectly in the physical realm, is no longer spiritual, it is digital. 

In addition, since living in both the digital and the material world, digital twins can amplify their experiences, even when they originate from the same individual. With this metaidentity we can transcend physicality - and, since it lives in an alternate reality, we dare say even time. Differing from what we experience with social media, the virtual identity does not rely on conscious acts from someone; the metaverse environment allows the virtual identity to have autonomy: an example of this are game characters who work based on previous instructions, with no need of an active operator. 

The potential of these resources, amplified by information technology, puts in check Leibniz’s definition of indiscernibility, since “distinction” and “individuation” can now be replicated using artificial resources, i.e., machines can now represent an identity and behave in a previously calculated way. There are, however, many things that need to be taken in consideration: how does one transfer someone’s personality to a machine? How fast do they learn and process things? How much does it take for them to be autonomous? What responsibilities do they have? Where to draw to the line when it comes to which data will serve as input? How to properly legislate over companies that store this type of data? What happens when the data source, the original version, dies? 

When it comes to the last question, one thing is certain: the digital twin will remain, similar to what happens now with social media accounts of people who passed away. Most of the time, these accounts remain active, interacting with other users. In terms of a virtual environment, we can now think that the digital presence of someone will remain active, interacting and learning even when their original version is no longer between us. 

This essay provokes us to reflect and debate on metaidentity and how it changes some fundamentals, like how we relate to our identities and death. There are many changes influenced by information technology: machines now have the ability to collect and process data with efficiency and speed, and they utilize this information to learn and to improve themselves. They’re changing how we work as a society. 

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References

[1] LEIBNIZ, G.W., Novos Ensaios sobre o Entendimento Humano, 1765.

[2] GELERNTER, David Hillel (1991). Mirror Worlds: or the Day Software Puts the Universe in a Shoebox—How It Will Happen and What It Will Mean. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195079067. OCLC 23868481 

[3] «Siemens and General Electric gear up for the internet of things». The Economist. That technology allows manufacturers to create what David Gelernter, a pioneering computer scientist at Yale University, over two decades ago imagined as 'mirror worlds'.