Bringing Dead People Alive Digitally With AI

Indian scientist Dr. Pratik Desai’s claim that humans will soon be able to keep their loved ones alive digitally by uploading their consciousness on a computer by 2023 has stirred a heated debate on Twitter.

In a series of tweets posted on Saturday, Dr. Desai suggested regularly recording people's loved ones’ voices and uploading them to an artificial intelligence (AI) platform to create a computerized avatar that can live forever after their death.

A prominent AI researcher who set up his own ChatGPT-like system, Desai believes that uploading people’s consciousness to computers will be a very real concept by the end of 2023.

A section of the Internet draws a similarity with the episode "Be Right Back" of the popular web series "Black Mirror", in which a young woman who loses her husband in a freak accident decides to seek help through AI to create a program out of his digital footprint and personality traits to communicate with after his demise.

Desai later tweeted that after watching that particular episode, he now understands and feels that it’s a very personal issue and apologized for hurting anyone’s feelings.

Scientists Stir Debate Over Bringing Dead People Alive Digitally With AI

Netizens Reject the Idea

Desai’s claim didn’t go down well with some netizens, who took to the comment section and shared that they would rather want their deceased loved ones to rest in peace and respect instead of converting them into a soulless artificial machine.

Some also emphasized that death is inevitable and that letting go is a core concept of life that one has to live with.

Scientists Stir Debate Over Bringing Dead People Alive Digitally With AI

Desai is not the only one who has proposed the idea.

Another computer expert, Dr. Ajaz Ali, head of business and computing at Ravensbourne University in London, predicts that by 2030, loved ones who have passed away will continue to "live on" in a digital form through AI.

In an interview with UK media, Dr. Ali claimed that in the future, humans may be able to upload a "digital twin" of themselves by "capturing" their looks and personality using recordings, analysis of their digital footprint, and pictures.

Last year, Artur Sychov, CEO and founder of the metaverse platform Somnium Space, decided to create a new feature called "Live Forever" mode following the death of his father.

This upcoming feature would allow individuals to talk with their dead loved ones in the metaverse.

Is Bringing Dead People Back to Life With AI Chatbots Against Our Moral & Social Values?

Netizens Reject the Idea