I want a digital twin! On second thought....

WITHIN five years you could have a “digital twin” capable of making decisions for you and even interacting with loved ones after you die, a technology expert says. John Smart, a futurist and founder of the Acceleration Studies Foundation, theorises that advances in computer science will soon allow computer-based versions of ourselves to act as our personal agents — automatically filling out forms or scheduling appointments. One day, these digital twins could even hold conversations and have faces that mimic human emotion. “They will become increasingly like us and extensions of us,” Smart tells Business Insider.
For digital twin technology to reach its full potential, Smart says, there needs to be better conversational interfaces and semantic maps. But we’re already off to a good start with software like Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana and “Eugene Goostman” — a computer program that imitates a teenager, which recently passed the Turing test. Eventually, digital twins could draw on our writing, email, smartphone data and verbal feedback to formulate a detailed record of our individual interests and values over time. “Where we’re headed is creating this world in which you feel you have this thing out there looking after your values,” he says. “When you and I die, our kids aren’t going to go to our tombstones, they’re going to fire up our digital twins and talk to them.”

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This would be awesome! Thanks to you guys though I have this nagging suspicion it will be used to spy on us and mislead others about us. Could you think of the possibilities? They could come to your house in the dead of night and take you. program your digital twin to take over all of your communications and state that you were on a leave of absense for an undetermined amount of time. Though very cool and full of possibilities I am growing this thorough fear of technology being used like this. GPS has already shown itself to ruin our young peoples ability to navigate and now we have this to destroy our young peoples ability to make choices and communicate without artificial aid.

a reply to: theyknowwhoyouare

So about our only need for being in the flesh is to pay taxes and make skin contact?
That concept is about as Frankensteinian as you can get digitally.
Identity theft will be escalated to a new level!

Currently there are Geminoids. Robots that currently limited to a head with a bust supporting it, with a stationary body attached if wanted, they have the appearance of an original person, integrated into it are the person's thoughts, memories, speech, etc.
Digitally this undoubtedly the cheaper and easier option as an alternative. Not to mention, likely less creepy for some, than an animated real life twin-responding to:

“When you and I die, our kids aren’t going to go to our tombstones, they’re going to fire up our digital twins and talk to them.”

Eventually, digital twins could draw on our writing, email, smartphone data and verbal feedback to formulate a detailed record of our individual interests and values over time.

You'd have to allow for those activities entailed to be recorded and stored. There I can see where it would be opened up for debate on privacy(stored data offline only) to hacking, if on an online source, while the digital self is relaying information and deciding things, or even used in memorial.

Ex text from Op Source-