From Human Promise to Digital Twin: Predicting Personality with AI. A case storie

Imagine this: You receive a death sentence—and decide to create your own digital avatar to remain a part of the future. To help your wife and son cope with their grief. It might sound like the plot of a Hollywood movie, but this is a real-life case story.

When Stephan Martinussen and his wife Katrine asked me to help create a digital version of Stephan before he died, I thought it was impossible – and perhaps even wrong. But I began the journey of creating ai-Stephan in close collaboration with him and his wife.

The early attempts failed. The breakthrough came when we shifted focus: from storing memories to predicting choices, from information to personality. That shift created not just ai-Stephan, but a new AI architecture. This project began with grief, but it ended with a vision for the future of AI.

Today, the same principles are behind what we call Extra Mind: AI that is proactive, personal, and shaped by who you are.

In this talk, I’ll share the story of ai-Stephan — the technical challenges and the ethical dilemmas we face.