People will be able to ‘live on’ after death thanks to powerful AI technology, a computer expert has claimed.
Dr Ajaz Ali said that loved ones who pass away will continue to exist in a digital form thanks to Artificial Intelligence ‘capturing’ their looks and personality.
Dr Ali, Head of Business and Computing at Ravensbourne University, claims that in the future humans may be able to upload a ‘digital twin’ of themselves.
The ‘twin’ will be captured from the living person using recordings, analysis of their digital footprint and things like motion capture and images for their visual presence.
This twin would then be able to ‘live on’ after death, allowing bereaved relatives to interact with their loved one, despite them having died.
Dr Ali said: 'By linking AI with digital technologies and motion capture tools, our conscious, knowledge and experiences will be transferred to our digital twins.
In an interview with the Mail the computer scientist said the technology, which could exist as early as 2050 would be revolutionary.
He added: “Using NLP based tools which will be way more advanced than ChatGPT and Bard, people will be able to interact with these digital twins in real time and benefit from their knowledge and ideas."
'Loved ones could carry on interacting with their relatives who have already died but exist in a digital twin form.'
Online retail giant Amazon has already previewed a technology that would allow its Alexa smart speaker to speak to users in the voice of a dead relative.
Rohit Prasad, Amazon’s Alexa AI senior vice president and head scientist, announced in June last year Alexa may soon be able to synthesise the voice of dead relatives in its latest plans to "make memories last".
Mr Prasad said it was Amazon's way of bringing people closer to their relatives who were lost in the coronavirus pandemic.
He said the plan was to build greater trust in the interactions users have with Alexa by putting more “human attributes of empathy and affect".
“These attributes have become even more important during the ongoing pandemic when so many of us have lost ones that we love,” he added.
“While AI can’t eliminate that pain of loss, it can definitely make their memories last.”
He then went on to show a video of a little boy hearing a bedtime story, read through Alexa playing the voice of his dead grandmother.
