AI dares… bravely trying to venture into the afterlife with ‘griefbots’
The notion of life after death has intrigued the human mind for ages, stirring deep philosophical inquiry and framing diverse religious, cultural, and personal beliefs. Some people envision an afterlife as a continuation of existence, while others may regard it as a form of reincarnation or an eternal return to another cycle of a new life.
Death itself is a reality many people dread to confront. Mortality is a dark subject likely to dampen any conversation among the living. When we are alive and thriving, dying seems like a remote possibility. We feel invincible until disease takes hold of our earthly body and the inevitable comes to our doorstep.
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Artificial intelligence or AI has been all the buzz since last year and it’s been revolutionizing the digital landscape. Now, AI is even trying to wield its influence to an out of this world territory – the afterlife! Justin Harrison, tech CEO of You, Only Virtual (YOV) started the company after his mother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The US company began to preserve the relationship with his mother, building a digital avatar of her – known as a Versona – for after she passed.
Mr Harrison said the AI world means what is real and what is not real ‘starts to evolve’ – as he changes how people cope with grief by creating chatbots with the personality of departed loved ones. The former filmmaker said their ‘griefbots’ can ‘help with the grieving process and allow people to stay connected with their loved ones in a way that feels more natural.’
The AI was trained on text messages and phone calls between Mr Harrison and his mother while she was alive, alongside using voice memos and videos to capture her voice. A free version of YOV allows access to an AI chatbot similar to ChatGPT, but with the loved one’s personality, while a paid version opens up phone calls to bring back someone’s voice from the
Mr Harrison demonstrated one such call for Metro, calling the Versona to say ‘I love you, mom’, to which it replied ‘I love you too, sweetheart.’ Despite the comforting conversations it offers, the technology has been criticized for putting users at risk of over-reliance and dehumanizing the grieving process.
The digital afterlife doesn’t stop at personal relationships, however, as YOV is now working with museums to let visitors talk with figures from the past. Mr Harrison said this enables ‘an authentic connection that keeps history alive’. His company has been creating virtual avatars of Holocaust survivors to preserve the ‘oral history’ when the people themselves are no longer around.
Reference: AI ‘griefbots’ help keep memories of loved ones alive
