Resurrecting deceased loved ones using artificial intelligence could harm mental health, create dependence on the technology and even spur a new religion, researchers have warned.
AI chatbots trained on text from the internet have become ever more capable and convincing in recent years. at the University of Colorado Boulder and at Google DeepMind say the possibility of training such an AI solely on the archived emails, text messages and other writings from a single person, to create a replica of them after death, may soon be relatively straightforward.
Brubaker says these 鈥済enerative ghosts鈥� could be a comfort to the bereaved, but warns that they could also create dependence and addiction, stopping loved ones from moving on with their lives in a healthy way.
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He suggests that this attachment could become more extreme and even lead to deification, with the mourner coming to regard them as some kind of angel or god. There are also risks that AI hallucinations could give uncharacteristic or harmful advice to a mourner.
鈥淚 think some people might see these as gods,鈥� says Brubaker. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think most people will. You鈥檒l have a group of people who find them just weird and creepy.鈥�
But Brubaker says that AI afterlives could loom large in some peoples鈥� lives and even lead to new religious movements. He hopes that current religions will issue guidance regarding the use of generative ghosts, and that researchers will think carefully about how they are created and used before going further with the idea.
at the Alan Turing Institute in London says the idea of being made into an AI chatbot after death makes her incredibly uncomfortable and suggests that regulation may be needed to stop data being collected and used that way without a person鈥檚 prior consent.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really worrying that these new tools might be marketed to people who are in a very vulnerable state, people who are grieving,鈥� says Aitken. 鈥淎n important part of the grieving process is moving on. It鈥檚 remembering and reflecting on the relationship, and holding that person in your memory 鈥� but moving on. And there鈥檚 real concern that this might create difficulties in that process.鈥�
arXiv
