AI, death and money: Grappling with our digital afterlife
Artificial intelligence promises to make death "optional," as the technology learns to perfectly emulate our personalities, memories and dreams, keeping a version of ourselves alive long after our physical bodies have perished. But if rapidly improving AI achieves its lofty goal of digital immortality -- as its advocates believe it can -- will it be a force for good or for evil?
"Eternal You" and "Love Machina," two new documentaries that premiered at the Sundance movie festival this weekend, grapple with the question, exploring AI's relationship to death from very different perspectives.
One examines how predatory AI-powered startups are already profiting from the vulnerability of bereaved customers, cashing in on their desperation to "speak to" avatars of their deceased loved ones beyond the grave.
"Eternal You" begins with a woman sitting at a computer, typing out messages to her deceased partner, who replies that he is afraid.
"Why are you scared?" she asks.
"I'm not used to being dead," the avatar responds.
Directors Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck first stumbled upon a handful of startups offering the chance to chat with deceased loved ones back in 2018.
Initially wondering if it was a cheap scam, the pair chronicled how the technology soon caught up with the marketing, and the industry has exploded.
"I would say now there are thousands of services around the world offering these kinds of services," said Riesewieck.
"And of course, Microsoft is collaborating with ChatGPT with OpenAI, and also Amazon took a look at what these startups are doing... it's just a question of time."
Customers upload data about their partner, parent or child, such as text messages and voice memos, which are used by AI to tailor responses.
The filmmakers found themselves empathizing with the customers after hearing their tragic stories of bereavement.
Western society is terrible at dealing with grief, they said, and technology can appear to fill the gap left by religion for many.
But the services
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