This idea came up from the recent NCIS episode (yes I'll admit I'm one of those weird people who still watches some of the episodes, lol). The episode was a situation where there was self sustaining AI that was guiding military drones.

While that part of it was scary, there was one part of the story that I found fascinating. In the episode there was the wacky Elon Musk type character who had created AI that could literally mimic the voice of his dead son and how he would react. During the episode he was testing the AI with a woman who had passed away.

Obviously AI is nowhere near that currently, but could we actually get to the point where AI could realistically mimic a person who has passed away? I know some people would say it's cheating death. I wouldn't go that far, the actual person is still gone, but it's still a memory they can interact with. Some people would no doubt say it hurts the ability for people to move on. Like you ever truly move on from a loved one. You learn to live with it, the pain gets less, but you don't move on.

How many of us wish we had a voice recording from a loved one? How many of us wish we could hear a loved one's voice one more time? How many people literally save voicemails because it's the last time they heard a friend or family member's voice?

Of course for something like this to be accurate it would have to be done before the person passed away. The AI would probably have to record days and days of conversations included individual conversations to understand how the person interacted with various people. It would be a time consuming process to say the least.

Of course something like this would be stupid expensive at first. Most likely reserved just for the Elon Musk's, Bill Gate's and Jeff Bezo's of the world. But if it became more commercial and available would you do it? Would you try to get an AI version of a loved one developed before they pass away so that you would have it after their death? Would you buy one for yourself so that in some way you do live on after your physical body has died?

How much would you pay? Would you give up an entire inheritance to have an AI version of a loved one?

This post was edited on 4/15/24 at 12:23 pm