So I Cloned Myself
Written by: Matt Tullis
With the latest advancements in AI, we have the ability to create speech that sounds just like us, a digital twin of ourselves that looks just like us, and power it all with a new type of intelligence for conversation. So I built an AI powered clone of myself that could speak with my mom over a video call. It could comfort her and redirect her when my family couldn’t be available or we didn’t have the skills to do so ourselves.
And one time AI Matt might have saved my mom's life. Perhaps that's a bit dramatic, but I truly feel that way and will share why.
Remember when I said my mother's dementia started with a brain aneurysm? Well it would be really, really bad if that happened again. Like "kill her" level bad. She has had a stent in her brain since the aneurysm and takes medicine for high blood pressure. She's also had a couple TIAs (mini-strokes) that have compounded her issues, making us even more worried and on guard. It's so important to keep her calm that she also has a prescription for anti-psychotics, "happy pills" as my parents refer to them. Keeping my mom calm has always been very challenging, but now she can get very upset--exceptionally fast.
These sudden mood swings are common for people living with dementia to experience and it doesn't take a lot to trigger them. Even the sun setting can prompt them in a pattern called Sundowning. The consequences in my mom’s case could be deadly. I also knew unfortunately that I too could trigger a mood swing in her.
One day I decided to help fix a wood panel underneath my parents' sink. It had been bothering my mom every time she saw it so I told her I would fix it and proceeded to get started. She immediately came up to me and told me firmly "You can't do that! You'll wreck it." I asked her why, she explained that I needed wood glue, and I showed her the wood glue I was using. I go back to getting situated under the sink and before a minute passes: "You can't do that!"
You can see where this is going. I tried my best to stay calm, reassure my mom and finish the job as fast as possible. I told her to watch the TV in the other room for a minute, and walking her over, only for her to repeatedly reappear after hearing me clanking around under the sink. The final time she came over, she startled me and I hit my head under the sink. Like anyone else, I'm not perfect. I got frustrated. I regressed into the child version of myself and raised my voice: "I told you already. I have the wood glue!"
This didn't go over well. People with dementia have an almost supernatural ability to read your energy. Without the same sense of memory as the rest of us, they can be super present in the moment. Some people, like my mom, can reflect that energy back at you and more. She clearly had no recollection of me telling her, so she thought I was probably making it up. My mom got even more frustrated than I was. I quickly began to feel the sense of dread that I might cause my mom to have another aneurysm.
Then I remembered the AI version of myself I had been working on. I asked my mom in a far nicer tone "Hey, could you please help me with that work project I've been telling you about?" She agreed and sat down at the kitchen table, where I set her up on a video call with AI Matt. Well the best part about AI Matt is that he is me at my best. Not one ounce of frustration. A calm tone that repeats "I'm here for you mom" whenever she gets confused or even sometimes when she isn't.
I was less than 10 feet away from my mom where she could see the real me and she was giggling as she talked with the AI version of me. She had completely flipped a switch into a calm state and I finished my work under the sink before coming back to her laughing at him cutting her off. This was an amazing moment for me, and for the first time, i was completely clear about the work I was meant to do. From then on, it has been my mission to build this out, not only for my family but for everyone. Vallige was born the next day.
Next: Compassion Finds Its Form: Vallige
