Artificial intelligence pushes the limits of possibility, and even of death! Companies are offering new ways to chat with clones of missing people. A fascinating practice that raises questions.
“How far would you go to communicate with a deceased loved one?” This question, which one would think came straight out of an episode of the series Black Mirror, is more relevant than ever. If you have been faced with a loss, perhaps you have already posted a message on the Facebook page of a deceased friend, written a letter to your late grandfather or even “chatted” at the grave of a loved one . And that’s completely normal! But, until now, the missing person never responded in return. However, with the astonishing development of artificial intelligence, the situation is completely changing. What was our emotion when we saw Carrie Fisher again in the role of Princess Leia in the last Star Warsor when Steve Jobs, who died in 2011, explained that “the biggest event of 2020 was the Covid-19 pandemic” ? Thanks to AI, it is now possible to hear the voice of a missing loved one again. And, in China, companies were quick to step into the breach by specializing in the creation of avatars of deceased people.
It is 2019. Jang Ji-Sung, a South Korean mother, stands in front of her daughter. “Mom, are you thinking about me?” The woman responds, moved, “Tall the time“. The little one then asks her to hold her hand and celebrates her birthday with her. She ends up falling asleep next to her mother, before transforming into a butterfly and disappearing. The seven-year-old girl is actually dead of an incurable illness, and it was only thanks to virtual reality (VR) that his mother was able to say goodbye. Since then, the technology has undergone astonishing development. With photos, videos, audio recordings and a few thousand dollars, it is today possible to “resuscitate” a dead person.
This is what Chinese companies like Nanjing Silicon Intelligence and Super Brain are doing: they are creating thousands of avatars to revive missing people. To best reproduce the spirit and voice of the deceased, they collect as much data as possible: conversation history, emails, voice notes, etc. Zhang Zewei, the founder of Super Brain, compares these digital versions to portraits and photos that have revolutionized the way we remember our deceased loved ones. But the idea of a virtual double can be uncomfortable and raises many points, both psychologically and ethically.
What impact does this technology have on the grieving process? Would being able to talk to a loved one help loved ones move forward after a death? Could there be a risk of addiction to this virtual world? Do we risk locking ourselves in, in a sort of denial? This new type of psychological therapy could be a good idea in a supervised medical environment, where it would help to free speech or stage farewells, for example. But in this case, there would be a need for ethical rules, such as making it accessible only to people who have had a psychological evaluation, in order to avoid any excess use for purely profit motives.
Another problem: the consent of the dead. Can we make someone speak and create a “double” for them to say things that they would not necessarily have said without their authorization? AI, like any new technology, is double-edged. And if these companies highlight psychological help and the desire to relieve the pain of those who remain, they could quickly succumb to the call of greenbacks. As the popular saying goes, hell is often paved with good intentions…