Not for now. In any case, the central point of Ankh is to help users create and collect data - not to spin up a silly chatbot version of you.

If it proves useful to converse with an LLM replica for self-reflection, exploring novel questions, etc., then we may explore it. Getting to interview yourself (both ways) could also just be fun - and silliness might keep your data flowing.

There's a problem, however: sending answer data for LLM training means (typically) that it must be readable, at least transiently, to us at Ankh or a third party. This would be a privacy degradation compared to our current very strict privacy policy. Could be opt-in, maybe.

No, the digital resurrection being alluded to in the app won't be possible for a very long time after your biological death.

At that point, it won't be "replacing" you. Instead your personality (and perhaps body) is being restored from your data and DNA. Ideally there's only one "yous" in this process (well, also zero "yous" in the time between your death and digital resurrection).

Our thinking is that recordings are data-rich, and that audio is actually quite good.

We recommend you choose a day and then find many opportunities to record that day's routine. Just don't infringe on the privacy of others.

Even better, record yourself or reflect on novel situations - travel, playing a new game, meeting someone new, accidents, stress, etc.

It's ok to use a separate device or app to record, and then add the data to Ankh. Or just keep it in a separate data cache (just tell your family to preserve it eventually).

Beyond that, any bulk datasets like chat histories, photo libraries, really anything you can export should eventually be stored - if not on Ankh then at least on multiple storage media, which you can tell your family to carefully preserve. It doesn't take up much space!

The far future process for assessing your data will likely catch most lies by cross-checking your stories with outside data - bank records, old messages, even old-timey CCTV. Also, people ain't good at lying, even over short time spans.

Ultimately, some distortion is inevitable, and likely harmless. People often incorrectly remember autobiographical information anyway, yet these incorrect recollections might then shape their behavior.

Carefully planned, systematic lying might not be possible to compensate for, but in any case, what are you achieving? Someone who's not you, just maybe, gets a chance to exist and live in the future? Or perhaps they don't get recreated because the data fails some consistency / integrity analysis?

Projecting how precisely a far-future civilization could resurrect a mind is guesswork. Here are some examples to assess the impact of inaccuracies:

Brain damage survivors

Severe head injury, stroke victims, sufferers of endocrine disruption, etc. can exhibit long lasting or permanent personality change. Certainly this personality change is not desirable, yet it's still considered the same person. These modern-day personality changes may far exceed the inaccuracy introduced during digital resurrection. Why? A friend or colleague assessing your behavior can already accurately detect and quantify some such changes - a far future mechanism with years of data about you could do better.

Death's door

Suppose at a point in your life a choice appears: Pass through door number 1 and certain death awaits (likely from old age). Pass through door number 2, and you will live, but not unscathed. Your personality and memories will be damaged, not quite the same. Yet, you will remain more similar to yourself than to an identical twin, even the most similar among trillions of variations on such twins. Still, not quite you. Which door would you choose?

Please also check out: FAQ: How can one test if digital resurrection truly means continued life?

FAQ: What if I receive a "facade resurrection"?

Facade resurrection, definition: a case where there's a vast amount of data about one's outward behavior (speech, conversation patterns, body language, etc.) but insufficient or inconclusive data about one's inner life. Hypothetically, such a person could be digitally resurrected to behave identically in day-to-day interactions, yet have inaccurate internal monologue, long-term motivations, secret affections, etc.

Presumably, it would be up to a far future civilization or entity to decide whether such facade resurrections are performed. If so, this could happen to "you" - especially from this era of sparse data and rudimentary collection methods.

If the facade is resurrected with a biological replica (or simulation) starting from DNA, then their internal mental state may be like an identical twin - one who happens to also share your behavioral tendencies and mannerisms, sometimes more closely than real twins do.

To speculate further: you as a facade may be required to fill in the blanks, to choose which direction to take the personality in over time. The Ankh application includes questions about how you’d approach that (likely wistful) situation.

For related concepts, see:

FAQ: How can one test if digital resurrection truly means continued life?

Whether the you (the original) finds this a satisfactory outcome is certainly something you should note in the app.

While it's true modern data storage is thought to be somewhat short lived, it is easy to make backup copies of data. So at a baseline, once Ankh establishes server infrastructure, the data is unlikely to be destroyed in, say, an accident (in the short term). If Ankh fails financially but has amassed a large data cache, it's likely archival organizations would be keenly interested in preserving the data.

For the long term, many ultra-durable storage methods are already being developed, and better ones will exist in the coming decades. Periodically, Ankh would create data vaults in geologically stable locations on Earth. This helps with preservation in case of civilization-threatening calamities. Finally, launching data caches into the asteroid belt or beyond would greatly increase the odds of the data's long term survival.

Finally, you already have custody of your data. Ask your family or friends to make a couple of copies and store them long term along with a few DNA samples. This will be very cheap and easy to digitize and store in the coming decades.

Valid concern: the 21st-century mind may have trouble grappling with the far future. However, abundance is required for costly digital resurrection. Such abundance may support a vast variety of cultural niches for you to fit into initially.

If you're brought back, so will others from this era - giving you at least a small, lingering community with a similar mindset. If not, virtual realities might help fill the void while you adapt. Even a simulated 21st century may be available, or a continuation of the era when you died.

Along those lines, said far future civilization or entity necessarily has complete mastery over the psyche, at least from our era. Far future solutions for far future problems may work best: advanced psychotherapy may gradually ease you in. Or if all else fails, you could opt into some light brainwashing to become compatible.

Finally, if there's a vast gap in intelligence, creativity, charisma, or other mental faculty - you may be given the chance to be uplifted, updating you to contemporary standards. Presumably, what makes you "you" would still be preserved, otherwise - why bring you back if the only path forward is some sort of destructive uplifting?

If, due to error or some unavoidable circumstance (or norm), more than one of your personality is brought back, you may wonder: am I truly me? At that point, most likely, you're all more or less you - now there are just more yous. Rejoice.

Some scenarios that can cause duplicate yous:

* An insular and illegal faction performs digital resurrection in secret, but due to the massive population scale of the future, many such factions exist - and many succeed at using Ankh data.

* Ankh manages to send data far from earth, a long time from now an alien civilization or entity could find and resurrect you in duplicate

* Perhaps you even continued to exist via (unlikely) life extension in the meantime, while the aforementioned scenarios bring another you back. Would this you betray your own secrets from ages past?

Will you get your compounding bank interest?

Are you seriously asking this? Considering the massive gap in time and what may be considered valuable, the answer would likely be "no" or "sure, here we'll recreate whatever you want in a nanosecond." Likely your bank account contents and possessions will go to someone else after you die the first time, Ankh or not.

Consider it a fair trade for a second chance at life. That said, it's unclear what would happen if you buried yourself with your possessions, legally.

If you have a possession you're sentimental about, of low value, keeps well, and isn't cumbersome, you could ask family or friends to hold on to it after your death - but this seems shaky.

Maybe it's time for some buried treasure! But absolutely mention in Ankh that an item was buried - otherwise, how would you remember in the far future? Perhaps shredcrypt the fine details of where it's buried, if you're worried about it being looted. Leave a note about yourself with the item. Don't bury close to residential areas - in centuries it would likely be dug up due to construction, before you could possibly be digitally resurrected.

This depends. If they use Ankh as thoroughly as you, and you are digitally resurrected thanks to Ankh, then it's likely. Or perhaps you lucked out and had a very easy-to-pinpoint personality, and they couldn't make it.

Or perhaps Ankh is overkill, and whatever data is being collected regularly from our digital presence, plus our DNA, is somehow miraculously enough. Then most people could be brought back.

It may be easier to bring children back, especially if very young, than adults. Or it may be harder - perhaps they are yet to express what's brewing inside them until exposed to challenges in the real world.

It may be possible to closely simulate slices of a loved one's personality or behavior in limited scenarios, like a casual picnic, gaming, or drinks with friends - as a form of comfort and therapy. The way videos can "animate" those already dead today.

All that said, please don't create and collect digital resurrection data for others unless you have their express, and preferably written, consent. See: FAQ: Is it ok to pretend to be someone else when using Ankh?

We're not currently considering developing a service for digital pet resurrection data collection. That said, please make video recordings of your pet's behavior and various interactions once in a while. Make sure to preserve a DNA sample. This data, and how they affect you, is at the very least relevant to your personality.

We consider it insurmountable to probe the mind of a pet - they can't be coaxed to reveal their feelings with an app. The fidelity level of a digital pet resurrection with such limited data might be closer to an improved clone. Also, even if a "pet Ankh" app existed, could it capture smells and pheromonal context that animals are more sensitive to? Unlikely.

Or we're wrong and digitally resurrecting pets, true to their personality, with imprinted memories and affection for those they know, their house, etc., is super easy - maybe even possible before you die of old age. Who knows!

Valid concern. Presumably you would be resurrected in a body similar to yours near the time of death, as it matches most closely to your personality. But you wouldn't be stuck like that.

Such a far future would have full mastery over biology. Far future medicine could gradually transform you back to the age of your choosing. This also gives you a chance to acclimate, instead of experiencing a sudden and jarring change. Or a sudden transition to 25 might be an option as well - it could be quite popular.

Would there be laws or norms barring transforming into a child, both in mind and body? The capability could certainly exist.