Digital necropolis. AI-powered chatbots instead of humans
At the beginning of 2021, Microsoft patented the technology
For the user, this is a bot, inside which -an exact copy of a person who is no longer alive. He communicates in the style of his prototype, makes references to facts from the past and plays the role of the deceased. If the bot manages to do this, then it will resemble digital immortality. At least if you like the expression "If someone is like someone else and behaves accordingly, then this is who he is."
“The idea of digitizing a person is not new.It is reflected in modern TV series and in the thoughts of people from past eras. The miraculous monument to oneself, about which Pushkin wrote, is essentially the same idea: the narrative left by a person after himself gives him eternal life, - notes Roman Dushkin, director of science and technology at the Agency for Artificial Intelligence (AI). - There is no technology yet to digitize a person, but this is a matter of the near future - there are no fundamental difficulties here. According to my estimates, the timeline for the appearance of virtual twins is 5-6 years, and in the worst-case scenario. "
Dushkin considers Microsoft's patent "controversial."Main complaints: the document is written in general terms and does not describe a specific technology. According to him, Microsoft is preparing in advance for the patent wars. At the same time, AII is developing a similar project. VIR Person is the research and development of methods for restoring the personal memory of people who have left a rich cultural and scientific heritage. The technology can be used to reconstruct the knowledge of politicians, scientists and cultural figures.
Bots can already replace people with whom it is impossible to communicate. How much is up to users to decide
Digital resurrection - ethically controversialinitiative. But, as the experience with the reconstruction of a person in virtual reality shows on the example of a woman from Korea, “reunited” with her deceased daughter, the service may be in demand. Another question is how long-lasting the idea of communicating with copies of deceased people will become.
“The memory of the dead is an important part of humanculture, so it's okay if new technologies work in this direction. But how much they can intrude into the usual course of things already depends on the user, - notes IT expert Alexander Baulin. "It seems to me that people will only be happy, many will be interested in the opportunity to leave not only photos and videos, but also a digital cast from a departed relative."
Technologies in the near future will be able tomake up for the loss for those who communicated with a person through instant messengers. Change the contact, name the chatbot with the name of the deceased - and you're done. Everything is like in that very episode of "Black Mirror", but without transferring the bot to the physical world.
Although here, too, there is something to think about: the prospect of transferring the image of a deceased person to the real world is not as strange as it seems. Moreover, it has already been partially implemented.
AI is already writing pictures, music, and digital characters are replacing real ones. People have no problem with their perception.
What is modern artificial intelligence capable of? It's too early to talk about conscious creativity, but AI does a great job of imitating visual and sound artists.
Algorithms can create a new one in a few minuteswork - an imitation of the work of famous artists - and write music. Artificial intelligence is getting closer and closer to the brink when it is difficult to understand what a person has done and what a machine has done.
With the generation of the appearance of people, anyway,at the photo level, there are no problems either. For example, there is a site called This Person Does Not Exist, which generates a new image every time it is updated. Can we perceive artificial images? Apparently yes - there is Shudu, the first digital supermodel. This is a virtual character created not by AI, but by a living person. But in this case, her success is indicative - 200,000 followers on Instagram.
AI can deliver a product, and people are readyperceive non-existent characters and not feel rejection towards them. Copies of real people are likely to be the same. In any case, at the level of public figures - such examples already exist.
Wayne, vocalist of Static X, died in 2014Static. The famous group disappeared for four years, and in 2018 announced a reunion and the release of a new album. The musicians decided not to change the frontman, but took the path of denying death. Instead of the deceased Wayne, a man appeared on the scene, imitating his appearance and voice.
AI may not become a therapy for a person, but traumatize him. Technology gets out of hand easily
It is no coincidence that the AI imitating a human starts itsway with the media person. Firstly, this option attracts maximum attention, and secondly, the image is exploited, not the person himself. We do not look TV presenters in the eyes and do not flinch when we hear words that are unusual for them. A person is ready to deceive, but in the matter with relatives - the problem is more complicated. Will a chatbot imitating the deceased be in the interests of the user?
“At first glance, temporary relief cancome if you can continue to correspond, read familiar words and phrases in response, get support and hear criticism in your address, says psychologist Lyubov Rosenberg. “But every message and word will remind you that the person is no longer around and never will be. An unhealing wound, an irreparable loss, and everything else is a substitution, a retouched pain, a departure from reality. "
Rosenberg adds that development can be extremelynegatively affect the lives of people who have lost a loved one. First of all, the fact that the chatbot will not allow you to go through all the stages of "living grief": it will not allow you to say goodbye and let go of the deceased.
In other words, ifattachment to the bot in a relative of the deceased may have an effect that is the opposite of what the developers of such solutions imply. This is fraught with serious trauma for the psyche and, as a result, a discredited image of not only one company, but also the entire sphere of artificial intelligence - people may begin to see it as a threat.
And this is true even now.There are cases when artificial intelligence brought on the negativity of the public on itself and its creators. In 2016, Microsoft released the Tay chatbot on Twitter, which can “tweet” and share opinions.
The company described its project as an experiment,where AI was trained on the basis of interaction with real people on the platform of the social network. But the Internet took the project in its own way, users began to attack the bot with racist, misogynistic and other radical statements. This is the way of communication that Tay learned, in less than a day she covered the path from "People are very cool!" to "I just hate everyone."
Of course, this is not his opinion - the bot played the roleparrot. But who can guarantee that the same will not happen with a digital copy of a person? After all, in order for it to be as authentic as possible, the AI must analyze all the narrative left after the deceased, including anger, controversy and his radical judgments.
What if in the future the market offers moreadvanced models that can act like real people online, share any data? And if we allow the scenario of opening access to such a chat bot, for example, to a smart home? There are no answers to these questions yet. As with the question of who will be responsible for the actions and words emanating from the AI, the development company is unlikely to take on such responsibility.
Imitators of the dead will become more sophisticated. But who will be the leader in this area is unknown.
The future of the chatbots of the dead and the development of technologywill determine the market. Business on death is a kind of activity that does not depend on any external shocks: science does not yet know how to avoid death. About 60 million people die every year, and this figure is projected to grow.
Moreover, the technology will be distributed:only in the beginning it will be relatively expensive and affordable in certain regions. With the cheaper service and the absence of strong resistance (for example, from religious institutions), the technology can reach everyone, repeating the fate of smartphones, which also did not appear in the pockets of users immediately after the first presentations.
Struggle for potentially exorbitant profits andthe audience begins now that even Microsoft is stepping up to obtain patents. Do not forget about absolutely fantastic options - the theoretical possibility of transferring consciousness to a computer during a person's life. If this becomes possible, it is chatbots and a leader in this area that will have the advantage of a loyal customer base ready to take the next step on the path to digital immortality.
Digital twins are just the beginning. We may soon see a high-tech funeral
The digital twin will not be able to save us from death or deceive it, but it can become a tool for preserving the knowledge of the deceased and short-term help for his family.
But the risks this idea carries need to be weighed.and stop as much as possible. As well as scenarios of unscrupulous use of chat bots by hackers or outsiders who want to use the knowledge of the deceased for their own purposes.
A full-fledged industry is now beginning to emergeDeath Tech, she relies on a phenomenon from which modern man is accustomed to flee. The fate of the industry, for all its ambiguity, can be extremely favorable, and companies that have become pioneers can reach a new level of capitalization.
But digital twins are just one of the optionsoffered by startups that focus on death. Already now there are options for sending ashes into orbit, processing bodies into fertilizers. Technology has finally made its way to the funeral sphere and will remain here for a long time. So far, few can appreciate them, but it seems that these ideas are no worse than the coffin from the KISS group or the use of ashes for food.
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