Digital Afterlife

Big Data Florida closes out its Spring 2018 regular meetings with a philosophical examination of the nature of data and humanity. It's an open question of who owns your data today. You provide it, social media companies monetize it, and hackers breach it. But what happens when you're gone? Who owns your data then?

Could your data history be used to create a digital avatar of your past life? How much storage and computing power would be needed to simulate you with enough fidelity to pass the Turing test? How would society react to a perpetual digital afterlife?

What if your consciousness was brought back, with nearly complete data memories, in a body genetically engineered to look and act the way you used to - at any age desired. Would your family welcome you home? What if many years had passed between your passing and revival? What if you were like Dune's Duncan Idaho, a clone purposely remade for as long as others wanted, with no concern for your wishes - how could you ever escape?

Come to this final talk of the current series to deliberate the ramifications of big data on future society.