When philosophers think about the question of what needs to survive in order for a person to survive, they generally give three answers. The first answer is a soul which is a supernatural ghost unique to every living person and doesn't have any material or physical reality in a brain or in any physical matter. Every person on this view is special, like a particular work of art, like the Mona Lisa. No one in AI research thinks they're creating something that's going to house everyone's individual ghost. If you believe this view, you're probably not going to find what people are doing in AI all that interesting.
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.
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