Creating a digital twin, a faithful AI replica that captures your essence, not just your outputs, is an act of imagination as much as it is a technical exercise. In a wide-ranging conversation with Daniel Nowak of Sensay, I explored how to build such a twin with sensitivity, purpose and creativity.
It is not simply a matter of uploading some files and hoping for the best. A true twin is crafted from many layers of information: the words you have written, the way you speak, the way you think and the small habits that define you.
Daniel laid out a practical roadmap. “Think about any potential sources you might have,” he says. “Your social media data, your website articles, your books, your interviews. Anywhere you have left your digital fingerprints.”
He encouraged me to gather everything, not just the public outputs but the transcripts of interviews, the patterns of speech, the emotions behind the words.
“For example, if you take a transcript from a YouTube video,” he says, “you can paste it into an AI tool and ask it to analyse your behavioural patterns and way of speaking.”
I found this both exciting and daunting. As a journalist, author and broadcaster, I have generated a mountain of content over the years: articles for national newspapers, interviews for radio shows like Making a Difference and The Wishing Well, activism videos from my time campaigning during the financial crisis. All these elements tell different parts of my story.
But which version of me should my twin reflect? Daniel advises providing context with every piece of data. “If you upload your books,” he says, “clarify that they are fiction, even if they are based on true emotional experiences. The twin needs to know the difference.”
This struck me as crucial. It is not enough to assemble data. It must be framed thoughtfully, so that the twin understands tone, style, intention.
As Daniel puts it, “The more you feed it, and the better you explain that feeding, the better your twin will be.”
Prompts, too, are vital. The initial prompt that guides the twin, its “advanced instruction”, must be crafted carefully. It should include a biography, the purpose of the twin, personality traits, areas of expertise, and even examples of how the twin should answer different kinds of questions.
Daniel showed me how to build this instruction set iteratively. Start with your basic information. Then add traits extracted from AI analysis of your speech and writing. Then refine further based on how you want your twin to behave.
“Think of it like raising a child,” he says. “Whatever you feed into it will shape how it grows.”
For me, this journey into digital twin creation is not just technical. It is deeply personal. This year, I turned sixty. After decades of activism, journalism and fighting battles, from the Irish financial crash to the blockchain revolution, I have come full circle back to my first love: writing.
Winning a RTÉ Prompt writing competition with a piece inspired by digital twins was a turning point. The prompt was “A world without…” and I wrote a story about a world where my digital self would continue even if I was no longer there. That story lit a fire. I also expanded another short story I have written some time ago into a novella, Daria’s Delightful Dancing Emporium, blending speculative fiction with very human questions about memory, identity and survival.
Far from feeling threatened by AI, I feel inspired. It has enhanced my thinking, pushed my creativity, opened new doors. I do not see AI as a rival but as a collaborator.
Now, I am building my own digital twin, thoughtfully, step by step, to extend that creativity. I envision using it on my websites, answering questions about my books, connecting with readers, maybe even helping to sell my work while I focus on writing more.
Daniel showed me how easily an AI assistant could be embedded into my book sites with just a few lines of code. A replica that could explain my novels, suggest related works, even share anecdotes in my style. It is no longer just a dream.
Creating a digital twin, I realise, is not about copying yourself perfectly. It is about capturing your voice, your intent, your soul – the intangible things that make you, you. It is about shaping a bridge between who you are and what you want to leave behind.
In the end, it is not just a technical project. It is a creative act. An act of faith, imagination and careful storytelling.
