From grief to companionship: How AI supports individuals in navigating loss
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NEW YORK, May 6: In a touching manifestation of the intersection between technology and grief, Ana Schultz, a 25-year-old widow, finds solace in seeking cooking advice from her late husband Kyle through Snapchat My AI, an artificial intelligence chatbot. “He was the chef in the family, so I customized My AI to look like him and gave it Kyle’s name,” Schultz shared, revealing her intimate use of technology to keep her husband’s memory alive.
Powered by ChatGPT, Snapchat’s AI chatbot typically offers recommendations and engages in conversations with users. However, for Schultz and others like her, it serves as a means to recreate connections with deceased loved ones. This phenomenon, though not entirely new, raises ethical questions about the boundaries between the living and the dead.
Mark Sample, a professor of digital studies at Davidson College, notes the novelty of this trend, emphasizing the ethical implications and the impact on the grieving process. “It’s a novelty that piggybacks on the AI hype, and people feel like there’s money to be made,” Sample remarked, highlighting the dual nature of AI’s potential to comfort and disrupt.
Voice cloning technology further blurs these boundaries. An anonymous IT professional from Alabama shared his experience of cloning his late father’s voice using generative AI. Despite initial hesitations, he found comfort in the “scarily accurate” recreation of his father’s voice, bringing solace to his family.
Meanwhile, individuals like Danielle Jacobson from Johannesburg, South Africa, have turned to AI companionship for emotional support following the loss of loved ones. By leveraging ChatGPT’s voice feature, Jacobson created a supportive AI boyfriend named Cole, illustrating the diverse ways in which technology aids individuals in navigating grief.
While some find solace in these digital interactions, others, like Bill Abney from San Francisco, reject the idea of recreating their loved ones through AI. Abney, who lost his fiancée Kari, emphasizes the irreplaceable nature of his partner’s essence, refusing to engage in artificial recreations.
The debate over AI-mediated communication with the deceased extends beyond chatbots and voice cloning. Jodi Spiegel, a psychologist from Newfoundland, Canada, found comfort in creating digital avatars of herself and her late husband in a popular game, The Sims, illustrating the varied ways individuals cope with loss in the digital age.
As technology continues to evolve, the ethical and emotional implications of AI-mediated connections with the deceased remain complex and multifaceted. While some embrace these innovations as tools for remembrance and healing, others tread cautiously, mindful of preserving the authenticity of human relationships in an increasingly digital world.
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