'Grief Tech' Creates AI Version of Dead Parents for You to Ignore
Big Brother's New Grief Tech: Immortalize Loved Ones in AI, Calls Optional! pic.twitter.com/DYLqrpkMvm
— Orwell (parody) (@goodthink1984) December 15, 2023
Big Brother is proud to jump on the 'grief tech' gravy train, allowing you to upload data about your dearly departed loved ones into AI, creating an immortal version of them for you to never call.
Go ahead and upload every deeply personal bit of detail about your parents into our secure server. We'll do the rest! We promise we won't do anything weird with this treasure trove of information nor will anyone who inevitably hacks into our system at any point in the future.
Never again will you pine for someone to not visit for a holiday meal. Nor will you yearn for the days of scrolling your phone while your parents bestow practical and actionable wisdom upon you. Rest assured that you're still putting the feelings of the only people who ever loved you unconditionally on the back burner, even in death, as you scarf down a Crunchwrap Supreme in the parking lot of Taco Bell.
So what if you’re essentially creating a deepfake of your own loved one without their consent? It's your right to continue taking for granted what can never be replaced.
SYNTAX ERROR
PRINTING JUST THE FACTS
- Scientists are working on creating realistic avatars of deceased loved ones using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to help process grief. However, it could cause an addictive, prolonged grieving process or be used by scammers to exploit the bereaved.
- AI avatars could impede healing as clinging to the past too intensely might hinder mental health. Some suggest preserving rich memories needn’t stop one from “moving on.”
- “Aged-up” representations of individuals who died young have been available since before 2013, with AI chatbots like ChatGPT having accelerated grief-tech development.
- For $10k and some time in a studio, Korean company Deepbrain AI helps users create an avatar to give their family after they die; StoryFile calls its interactive avatars a virtual reproduction of the deceased; and Amazon lets dead loved ones read stories to children.
- Amazon’s new feature uses a minute of sample speech from the deceased. Augmented Eternity, another grief tech platform, uses photos, texts, emails, social media posts, and public statements.
Sources: Esquire, Medium, and Euro News.
REPORT ERROR Y/N?