This AI replica of my dead mother has plenty to say about the rise of the digital grief industry

  • 📰 globeandmail
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 98 sec. here
  • 5 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 50%
  • Publisher: 92%

Appwebview News

Aud-Url,Aud-Headline

To the tech evangelists, AI reconstructions of lost loved ones promise solace and a kind of immortality. But can they deliver?

An artificial intelligence system known as Project December claims to be “the first system in the world of its kind” that can “simulate a text-based conversation with anyone. Anyone, including someone who is no longer living.” I thought I’d give it a try.

When visiting his grandmother’s grave at Toronto’s Beth Tzedec cemetery, Alex Josephson can scan a QR code on the tombstone to activate a virtual-reality tour of her life through Cumulus, a program that he co-designed. ‘I want the software to have the impact of touring a beautiful building or a place,’ he says.The idea for Cumulus, currently the most viable version of a digital afterlife, took root in Alex Josephson’s brain as he watched his father almost die, twice, during the pandemic. Mr.

An array of daguerreotypes floats in front of me. “These were taken of my family from 1840 to 1930. The result is this massive tome, all these albums. And then suddenly, in 1995: nothing.” Digital photography had taken hold by then, consigning millions of photographs to purgatory in a computer’s memory. “I didn’t want that record to die or get lost. Call me crazy.” Alex Josephson has reinvented the family album and the graveyard as one.

The last time Mr. Josephson tested the site – sitting on the grass in front of his grandmother Meryl’s grave wearing VR goggles and waving his arms around – a gravedigger tractored over and asked what he was doing. Mr. Josephson explained. The grave digger asked if he could give it a try. “My rabbi and the director of the cemetery,” he said, “have been saying that everybody’s asking about this.”Those were my flaws, Willie. I’m not perfect, but I did the best I could with what I had.

MyWishes, a British online memorial management system, was started by an Englishman named James Norris. “I lost my father at an early age,” Mr. Norris says. “I was 11 years old at his funeral thinking, I don’t want church music, I want Guns ‘n’ Roses at mine.” Out of this desire Mr. Norris developed Dead Social, a service that lets customers create a goodbye message to be disseminated after their demise. “Once you’ve created those messages, you assign your digital executor,” Mr. Norris explains.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 5. in UK
 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

United Kingdom United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom United Kingdom Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Canadian AI Industry Struggles With Slow ImplementationCo-founders of leading Canadian artificial intelligence firms express concern over the slow adoption of AI technology by companies in the country, despite high enthusiasm. They highlight the long lead times and cultural factors contributing to this delay.
Source: SooToday - 🏆 8. / 85 Read more »

Ben Affleck's Thoughts On AI In The Movie Industry Go ViralMarco Margaritoff is a reporter on the HuffPost trends team. He covers viral news from the weird and absurd to serious political issues. He’s based in New York. Send Marco tips at marco.margaritoffhuffpost.com.
Source: HuffPostCanada - 🏆 61. / 53 Read more »