AI technology is bringing the dead ‘back to life’

Controversial new technology is now making it possible to bring the dead “back to life” – with some even attending their own funerals.

Think about someone you loved who has passed away.

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to hug them one last time? What about being able to speak to them from beyond the grave — what would you say?

Well, this chilling idea is no longer simply the plot of our favourite sci-fi movies or horror flicks.

It is here, and it is as compelling as it is terrifying.

Speaking at Sydney’s South by Southwest conference on Thursday, sextech expert Bryony Cole delved into how new technology such as AI is changing intimacy forever.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not only finding its way into the bedroom in the form of robot lovers and virtual relationships, but it is now actually bringing the dead “back to life” even decades after someone has passed away.

Ms Cole spoke to a large crowd at the SXSW conference. Picture: News.com.au / Jasmine Kazlauskas

“People have started using AI to talk to people that have passed,” Ms Cole explained.

“Isn’t it something we always have wanted? To go back and talk to those people that we’ve loved and lost?

“It is an interesting concept and I think it feeds into this sort of Black Mirror AI, ‘where is technology going?’ debate.”

She said there were a few companies emerging now who are exploring the field, but said she expects there will be many more in the future.

“There are companies that are developing legacy systems where you can go and interact with your past loved ones,” she said.

“Eternos, one of the founders, has terminal cancer, so it is very much a case of ‘I want to upload myself for future generations and loved ones to interact with’.

“It is a sense of being fulfilled that I’m leaving this planet with the ability for my loved ones to interact with me. The question of whether that is good for the grieving process is another one.”

Many people now have AI companions and partners. Picture: News.com.au / Jasmine Kazlauskas

Ms Cole highlighted another company, StoryFile, who specialise in bringing people “back from the dead” in order to attend their own funeral.

“They make a digital copy of you and one of the uses is that you’ll be able to be at your own funeral,” she explained.

“People will be able to come up and ask you questions and interact with you at your funeral, after you’ve passed. It’s so interesting.

“I have so many questions though. Like what age would you want to capture them?

“Say someone is 90 when they die. Do you want that version of them, or do you want them when they are much younger and brighter?

“When you talk to people who are grieving, they don’t miss that version of them. So it is a way to revisit someone at their prime.

“What version of ourselves do we want at our funeral? This is the question we will all have in the future.”

Being ‘resurrected’ with AI

The Los Angeles based company made headlines earlier this year when its chief executive Stephen Smith brought his own mother “back to life” to attend her funeral.

Mr Smith created an AI version of his mum, which appeared on a big screen during the ceremony, talking and interacting with her own funeral guests from beyond the grave.

StoryFile creates digital clones of people by using 20 synchronised cameras to record them answering a series of questions while they are still alive.

This is then processed using AI to help create natural responses to questions after they have passed away.

Prior to his mother's death, he had spent several hours with her recording answers from StoryFile’s database of 250,000 questions.

Then at her funeral, she was able to answer some of the questions that mourners had, creating the illusion of actual conversation

This woman is AI and is talking at her own funeral to her guests. Picture:

“At StoryFile, our values are centred around trust, authenticity, and innovation,” the company’s website states.

“As a company pioneering an AI-driven technology platform, we understand that AI and similarly powerful technologies cannot be built with responsible innovation as an afterthought.

“Ethics are an integral part of the company by design.

“These values need to be reflected in company policy, how we operationalise our technology development process, and in the output of the technology we are building.

“We are committed to making AI more human.

“StoryFile’s AI principles promote our company values in our continuous design, development, and deployment of AI in our storytelling products and services.”

In this same realm, one South Korean mother was able to talk to her deceased child one last time thanks to AI technology.

Back in 2020, an emotional video of the encounter sparked an intense online debate online whether such technology helps or hurts its users.

Technology helped a South Korean mother interact with her deceased child. Picture: Supplied

Jason Rohrer, founder of Project December, which also uses AI to stimulate conversations with the dead, told Al Jazeera that most who use this are typically going through an “unusual level of trauma and grief” and see the tool as a way to help cope.

“A lot of these people who want to use Project December in this way are willing to try anything because their grief is so insurmountable and so painful to them,” Mr Rohrer told the outlet.

Changing humanity

Ms Cole also shared other examples of how AI is being used to combat loneliness in many individuals.

Some apps allow users to create their ideal partner and many have shared that they truly feel like they are falling in love with their artificial companion.

Ms Cole is a sextech expert and is a trailblazer in her field. Picture: Instagram / @bryonycole

It also extends to physical intimacy, where some can use traditional sex toys paired with AI technology to make it feel like they are having intercourse with their ideal sexual partner.

Despite these advances, Ms Cole highlights that these new technologies could pose some serious risks to the future of humanity as we know it.

“There are so many more questions that this raises than it answers,” she said.

“I think we need to think about this and while yes, there is the sexy fun stuff, there is also love and how it changes through technology into the future.

“It is not just transforming our lives but it is redefining what it means to be human.”

Originally published as AI technology is bringing the dead ‘back to life’