Researchers and technologists are exploring new ways to communicate with the dead with the help of artificial intelligence, as per a new report by The Metro.
According to MIT professor Sherry Turkle, who is a long-term observer of the human relationship with technology, the impetus to communicate with the dead is a deeply human impulse. It spans across history, from seances and Ouija boards to Thomas Edison’s desire to create a “spirit phone”.
With modern-day technological innovations, this quest has taken an interesting and potentially worrying new turn. The Metro’s report highlighted the documentary Eternal You that brings viewers face-to-face with the deceased. For example, Christi Angel from New York used AI to chat with a long-lost friend named Cameroun who passed away due to the pandemic.
She reconnected with him through a service known as Project December, a system that used artificial intelligence to simulate text-based conversation with anyone, including those ‘no longer living’. Costing $9.99, the program required users to input data about their loved ones so the program could build the bot they could talk to.
However, Angel’s experience took a dark turn when the digital version of Cameroun revealed that he was in “hell” and was going to “haunt” her.
Project December has been dismissed as ‘death capitalism’ by some, with its founder Jason Rohrer admitting that even his own wife thought the idea was immoral. However, Roher did not take responsibility for influencing the moods of users like Angel.
The revelation has sparked a widespread debate on social media, with some seeing this potential development as a way to reconnect with lost loved ones, while many others have criticized it and expressed alarm of the potential disruption it could potentially cause the humans who used it. Many have also pointed out that AI’s notable infringement of user privacy in other areas does not bode well for its recent impulse to reach out to the dead.
