By Katherine Ellison
---
For more than a decade, scientists have searched for ways to manipulate self-continuity in study participants to try to get them to behave more prudently. They have reported success with a variety of approaches, including having people interact with a computer-generated older version of themselves, sometimes with the help of virtual-reality glasses.
Most recently, a new program called Future You, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, offers young people a chance to chat with an online, AI-generated simulation of themselves at age 60. A recent study of 344 participants found that users who interacted with their future selves reported “increased future self-continuity” and, perhaps as a consequence, significantly less anxiety, compared with those who did not.