The first generation of AI started with the idea that people program a computer with rules and instructions that mimic human intelligence. But in the era of deep learning, the computer comes up with all of the instructions. To learn how to talk like your mom, you give an AI an incomplete or redacted message from your mom. You feed into the AI, I don't want any blank on blank day. Then the computer just starts guessing about how to fill in the incomplete sentences.
When Justin’s mom was diagnosed with cancer, he knew he wanted to keep talking to her after she died. So together they made an AI version of her, training it on her speech patterns and memories. Now he is scaling his findings so that anyone can continue their relationships with loved ones after their deaths. Justin even believes this can one day lead to digital immortality.
Grief experts are only now dealing with bereaved people who create digital versions of their loved ones. We look at what they say about the phenomenon, and what philosophers think about whether the best AI version of a person can actually be them.
Co-produced with Alexandra Salmon, guests include Justin Harrison, CEO of You, Only Virtual, Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor, and Dr. Debra Bassett.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices