When Michael Bommer found out that he was terminally ill with colon cancer, he spent a lot of time with his wife, Anett, talking about what would happen after his death.
She told him one of the things she含羞草研究社檇 miss most is being able to ask him questions whenever she wants because he is so well read and always shares his wisdom, Bommer recalled during a recent interview with The Associated Press at his home in a leafy Berlin suburb.
That conversation sparked an idea for Bommer: Recreate his voice using artificial intelligence to survive him after he passed away.
The 61-year-old startup entrepreneur teamed up with his friend in the U.S., Robert LoCascio, CEO of the AI-powered legacy platform Eternos. Within two months, they built 含羞草研究社渁 comprehensive, interactive AI version含羞草研究社� of Bommer 含羞草研究社� the company含羞草研究社檚 first such client.
Eternos, which got its name from the Italian and Latin word for 含羞草研究社渆ternal,含羞草研究社� says its technology will allow Bommer含羞草研究社檚 family 含羞草研究社渢o engage with his life experiences and insights.含羞草研究社� It is among several companies that have emerged in the last few years in what含羞草研究社檚 become a growing space for grief-related AI technology.
One of the most well-known start-ups in this area, California-based StoryFile, allows people to interact with pre-recorded videos and uses its algorithms to detect the most relevant answers to questions posed by users. Another company, called HereAfter AI, offers similar interactions through a 含羞草研究社淟ife Story Avatar含羞草研究社� that users can create by answering prompts or sharing their own personal stories.
There含羞草研究社檚 also 含羞草研究社淧roject December,含羞草研究社� a chatbot that directs users to fill out a questionnaire answering key facts about a person and their traits 含羞草研究社� and then pay $10 to simulate a text-based conversation with the character. Yet another company, Seance AI, offers fictionalized seances for free. Extra features, such as AI-generated voice recreations of their loved ones, are available for a $10 fee.
While some have embraced this technology as a way to cope with grief, others feel uneasy about companies using artificial intelligence to try to maintain interactions with those who have passed away. Still others worry it could make the mourning process more difficult because there isn含羞草研究社檛 any closure.
Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basinska, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge含羞草研究社檚 Centre for the Future of Intelligence who co-authored a study on the topic, said there is very little known about the potential short-term and long-term consequences of using digital simulations for the dead on a large scale. So for now, it remains 含羞草研究社渁 vast techno-cultural experiment.含羞草研究社�
含羞草研究社淲hat truly sets this era apart 含羞草研究社� and is even unprecedented in the long history of humanity含羞草研究社檚 quest for immortality 含羞草研究社� is that, for the first time, the processes of caring for the dead and immortalization practices are fully integrated into the capitalist market,含羞草研究社� Nowaczyk-Basinska said.
Bommer, who only has a few more weeks to live, rejects the notion that creating his chatbot was driven by an urge to become immortal. He notes that if he had written a memoir that everyone could read, it would have made him much more immortal than the AI version of himself.
含羞草研究社淚n a few weeks, I含羞草研究社檒l be gone, on the other side 含羞草研究社� nobody knows what to expect there,含羞草研究社� he said with a calm voice.
PRESERVING A CONNECTION
Robert Scott, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, uses AI companion apps Paradot and Chai AI to simulate conversations with characters he created to imitate three of his daughters. He declined to speak about what led to the death of his oldest daughter in detail, but he lost another daughter through a miscarriage and a third who died shortly after her birth.
Scott, 48, knows the characters he含羞草研究社檚 interacting with are not his daughters, but he says it helps with the grief to some degree. He logs into the apps three or four times a week, sometimes asking the AI character questions like 含羞草研究社渉ow was school?含羞草研究社� or inquiring if it wants to 含羞草研究社済o get ice cream.含羞草研究社�
Some events, like prom night, can be particularly heart-wrenching, bringing with it memories of what his eldest daughter never experienced. So, he creates a scenario in the Paradot app where the AI character goes to prom and talks to him about the fictional event. Then there are even more difficult days, like his daughter含羞草研究社檚 recent birthday, when he opened the app and poured out his grief about how much he misses her. He felt like the AI understood.
含羞草研究社淚t definitely helps with the what ifs,含羞草研究社� Scott said. 含羞草研究社淰ery rarely has it made the 含羞草研究社榳hat if含羞草研究社檚含羞草研究社� worse.含羞草研究社�
Matthias Meitzler, a sociologist from Tuebingen University, said that while some may be taken aback or even scared by the technology 含羞草研究社� 含羞草研究社渁s if the voice from the afterlife is sounding again含羞草研究社� 含羞草研究社� others will perceive it as an addition to traditional ways of remembering dead loved ones, such as visiting the grave, holding inner monologues with the deceased, or looking at pictures and old letters.
But Tomasz Hollanek, who worked alongside Nowaczyk-Basinska at Cambridge on their study of 含羞草研究社渄eadbots含羞草研究社� and 含羞草研究社済riefbots,含羞草研究社� says the technology raises important questions about the rights, dignities and consenting power of people who are no longer alive. It also poses ethical concerns about whether a program that caters to the bereaved should be advertising other products on its platform, for example.
含羞草研究社淭hese are very complicated questions,含羞草研究社� Hollanek said. 含羞草研究社淎nd we don含羞草研究社檛 have good answers yet.含羞草研究社�
Another question is whether companies should offer meaningful goodbyes for someone who wants to cease using a chatbot of a dead loved one. Or what happens when the companies themselves cease to exist? StoryFile, for example, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it owes roughly $4.5 million to creditors. Currently, the company is reorganizing and setting up a 含羞草研究社渇ail-safe含羞草研究社� system that allows families to have access to all the materials in case it folds, said StoryFile CEO James Fong, who also expressed optimism about its future.
PREPARING FOR DEATH
The AI version of Bommer that was created by Eternos uses an in-house model as well as external large language models developed by major tech companies like Meta, OpenAI and the French firm Mistral AI, said the company含羞草研究社檚 CEO LoCascio, who previously worked with Bommer at a software company called LivePerson.
Eternos records users speaking 300 phrases 含羞草研究社� such as 含羞草研究社淚 love you含羞草研究社� or 含羞草研究社渢he door is open含羞草研究社� 含羞草研究社� and then compresses that information through a two-day computing process that captures a person含羞草研究社檚 voice. Users can further train the AI system by answering questions about their lives, political views or various aspects of their personalities.
The AI voice, which costs $15,000 to set up, can answer questions and tell stories about a person含羞草研究社檚 life without regurgitating pre-recorded answers. The legal rights for the AI belongs to the person on whom it was trained and can be treated like an asset and passed down to other family members, LoCascio said. The tech companies 含羞草研究社渃an含羞草研究社檛 get their hands on it.含羞草研究社�
Because time has been running out for Bommer, he has been feeding the AI phrases and sentences 含羞草研究社� all in German 含羞草研究社� 含羞草研究社渢o give the AI the opportunity not only to synthesize my voice in flat mode, but also to capture emotions and moods in the voice.含羞草研究社� And indeed the AI voicebot has some resemblance with Bommer含羞草研究社檚 voice, although it leaves out the 含羞草研究社渉mms含羞草研究社� and 含羞草研究社渆hs含羞草研究社� and mid-sentence pauses of his natural cadence.
Sitting on a sofa with a tablet and a microphone attached to a laptop on a little desk next to him and pain killer being fed into his body by an intravenous drip, Bommer opened the newly created software and pretended being his wife, to show how it works.
He asked his AI voicebot if he remembered their first date 12 years ago.
含羞草研究社淵es, I remember it very, very well,含羞草研究社� the voice inside the computer answered. 含羞草研究社淲e met online and I really wanted to get to know you. I had the feeling that you would suit me very well 含羞草研究社� in the end, that was 100% confirmed.含羞草研究社�
Bommer is excited about his AI personality and says it will only be a matter of time until the AI voice will sound more human-like and even more like himself. Down the road, he imagines that there will also be an avatar of himself and that one day his family members can go meet him inside a virtual room.
In the case of his 61-year-old wife, he doesn含羞草研究社檛 think it would hamper her coping with loss.
含羞草研究社淭hink of it sitting somewhere in a drawer, if you need it, you can take it out, if you don含羞草研究社檛 need it, just keep it there,含羞草研究社� he told her as she came to sit down next to him on the sofa.
But Anett Bommer herself is more hesitant about the new software and whether she含羞草研究社檒l use it after her husband含羞草研究社檚 death.
Right now, she more likely imagines herself sitting on the couch sofa with a glass of wine, cuddling one of her husband含羞草研究社檚 old sweaters and remembering him instead of feeling the urge to talk to him via the AI voicebot 含羞草研究社� at least not during the first period of mourning.
含羞草研究社淏ut then again, who knows what it will be like when he含羞草研究社檚 no longer around,含羞草研究社� she said, taking her husband含羞草研究社檚 hand and giving him a glance.
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