8-6-2023 (NEW YORK) Start-ups are harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to offer the possibility of staying connected with loved ones even after their demise, but this advancement is not without its ethical concerns.
In a moving video demonstration, Ryu Sun-yun sits in front of a microphone and a giant screen, where her deceased husband appears. “Sweetheart, it’s me,” says the man on the screen. Overwhelmed with emotion, she responds, and a semblance of conversation begins.
When 76-year-old Lee Byeong-hwal received a terminal cancer diagnosis, he approached the start-up DeepBrain AI with a unique request. He asked them to create a digital replica of himself using several hours of video footage. Joseph Murphy, the head of development at DeepBrain AI, clarifies that they do not generate new content that the deceased would never have uttered or written. “Rememory,” as the program is called, is considered a niche part of their business, with limited growth prospects, according to Murphy.
The same concept applies to StoryFile, a company that features 92-year-old “Star Trek” actor William Shatner in its promotional efforts. Stephen Smith, the CEO of StoryFile, explains that their approach is to capture the essence of an individual and then utilize AI tools. The company claims to have several thousand users of its Life service.
Entrepreneur Pratik Desai caused a stir a few months ago when he suggested that people save audio or video recordings of their parents, elders, and loved ones. He went as far as predicting that by the end of the year, it would be possible to create an autonomous avatar of a deceased person. However, he later clarified his intentions after facing backlash, stating that he did not mean to come across as insensitive.
“This is a highly sensitive topic, and we are handling it with utmost care,” says Smith.
Following the tragic death of her best friend in a car accident in 2015, Russian engineer Eugenia Kyuda, who had emigrated to California, created a “chatbot” named Roman. The chatbot was fed with thousands of text messages that her deceased friend had sent to loved ones. Two years later, Kyuda launched Replika, a platform that offers personalized conversational robots, known to be among the most advanced in the market. However, despite the precedent set by the Roman chatbot, a spokesperson for Replika clarifies that their platform is not designed to recreate a lost loved one.
Somnium Space, a London-based company, has a different approach. They aim to create virtual clones of individuals while they are still alive, allowing them to exist in a parallel universe after their death. CEO Artur Sychov acknowledges that this concept is not for everyone but believes that those who desire such an experience will have the opportunity to meet their deceased loved ones in the realm of artificial intelligence.
