Dutch professor Jan Rotmans builds AI digital twin to preserve legacy

Building a Digital Twin Against a Terminal Diagnosis

Sixty-five is the age at which Dutch Jan Rotmans is building a digital twin of himself using artificial intelligence, according to reports from Het Financieele Dagblad and NOS. Diagnosed with a terminal illness in 2024 and given a five-year prognosis by his physicians, the scientist is banking on audio, video, and text models to preserve his academic legacy. Unlike traditional archival preservation, the system is designed to field complex inquiries and generate speculative solutions to systemic problems long after he is gone.

Rotmans says he is the first Dutch professor to have such a digital twin built, noting that he is not afraid to disappear because he thinks the world can still benefit from it. He expects that other scientists will quickly follow his example and that within 25 years virtually everyone will have such a digital twin. He notes that almost nobody is enthusiastic, which he considers a good sign because it means it is truly innovative, adding, “Vrijwel niemand is enthousiast. Voor mij is dat een goed teken. Als veel mensen sceptisch zijn, weet ik dat ik goed zit.”

Studio Captures Professor for Digital Twin Training

Rotmans recorded his voice, facial expressions, and mannerisms to train the interactive avatar, utilizing 35 published books, hundreds of articles, and numerous lecture recordings as foundational data. Studio The Synths, a firm that previously developed a digital double of Ruud Gullit, built the likeness. According to NOS reporting, the professor intends to consult his artificial counterpart on complex issues such as internet outages to see if the model produces novel insights.

The professor states that everything concerning him was captured recently, including sound, image, voice, and mimicry, with a life-like version being prepared over the coming months so that it can give lectures and answer questions when he is no longer there himself. He notes that the AI he currently uses is entirely logical and primarily based on things he previously did and said, observing, “De AI die ik nu gebruik is allemaal logisch en vooral gebaseerd op dingen die ik eerder heb gedaan en gezegd.” He also expresses hope that things will soon emerge that surprise even him, stating, Ik sluit niet uit dat mijn avatar oplossingen aandraagt die ik zelf niet heb.

Academic Skepticism and Warnings Over Grief Tech

Reactions from academic peers remain deeply divided. Vincent Ginis, an AI-professor at the VUB, told Het Financieele Dagblad that the technical implementation requires minimal effort and offers limited scientific utility, noting that users can extract equivalent information from standard language models without an academic avatar. KU Leuven AI-expert Thomas Winters characterized the project as grief tech and unnecessary anthropomorphization, comparing it to corporate chatbots assigned human names.

Experts Warn Against Dehumanization and Complicated Mourning

Radboud University AI-hoogleraar Iris van Rooij called the application an undesirable consequence of market hype and a form of dehumanization, noting in NOS coverage that a static linguistic model cannot replicate human reasoning. Manu Keirse, a rouwexpert at KU Leuven, warned that interacting with digital avatars complicates the mourning process by hindering the acceptance of reality.

Van Rooij specifically described the project as een heel onwenselijke ontwikkeling during her remarks.

System Restricts Output During Upcoming Testing Phase

Despite the skepticism, Rotmans maintains that the digital twin will not serve as a personal substitute for his family. The system restricts output to avoid speculation on topics where he has no expertise. The project’s next phase involves active testing of the interactive model.