Sun Kai, the co-founder of Silicon Intelligence, speaks with an AI avatar of his late mother whenever he feels stressed at work.
The most labor-intensive step of generating an avatar of a person is then cleaning up the data they provide, says Zhang. Relatives often hand over low-quality audio and video, marred by background noise or blurriness. Photos depicting more than one person are also no good, he says, because they confuse the AI algorithm.
“In today's world, the internet probably knows you the best. Your parents or family may not know everything about you, but all your information is online — your selfies, photos, videos,” says Fan Jun, a Fu Shou YuanFu Shou Yuan is hoping generative AI can lessen the traditional cultural taboo around discussing death in China, where mourning is accompanied by, landscaped like a sun-dappled public park, but it’s no ordinary burial ground.
“For the family members who have just lost a loved one, their first reaction will definitely be a sense of comfort, a desire to communicate with them again,” says Jiang Xia, a funeral planner for the Fu Shou Yuan International Group. “However, to say that every customer will accept this might be challenging, as there are ethical issues involved.”