The Rise of Digital 'Ghosts': AI Creates Deceased Loved Ones' Copies

AI companies are creating 'digital ghosts' of deceased individuals using their voice, writing, and image records, allowing families to converse with them. Experts are examining the impact of this technology on the grieving process, while ethical debates grow. Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder noted that interest in this technology is rapidly increasing, and the relationship between AI and grief is being researched more extensively. A study published by the Association for Computing Machinery asked participants to share memories and personality traits of their deceased loved ones. The researchers observed that large language models (LLM) can create conversational systems that mimic the deceased person's speaking style, even with limited information. The researchers stated that, using free AI tools and specific commands, it is possible to generate responses similar to those of a deceased loved one. They categorize these systems into two groups: 'death bots' and 'digital ghosts'. The more advanced 'digital ghosts' can interact with users by mimicking the deceased person's voice, speech patterns, and style, and can even produce novel responses. However, experts note that this raises ethical concerns, as the systems can generate expressions that were never actually spoken.