Apparently not having learned anything from Black Mirror, Microsoft filed a patent ” Creating a Conversational Chatbot of a Specific Person, ”To bring back deceased loved ones as chatbots from their digital data so you can have an IM-style conversation with them from the afterlife.
The patent also mentions the use of 2D or 3D models of specific people generated by photos or video data.
“The specific person may be a past or present entity (or a version of it), such as a friend, relative, acquaintance, celebrity, fictional character, historical figure, random entity, or yourself – implying that living people could be a “digital replacement” in the event of death.
Social norms are changing, but it seems a tough sell.
NEW – Microsoft files a patent to bring back dead loved ones as AI “chatbots” from their digital harvested data, having seemingly learned nothing from Black Mirror.
Patent: https://t.co/bGHvcXrY8C pic.twitter.com/RpLFeD4wXM
— Disclose.tv ???? (@disclosetv) January 22, 2021
There is very little chance that Microsoft engineers will ever develop this system. Tim O’Brien, general manager of AI programs at Microsoft, a tweeted that he was not aware of any plans to bring these algorithms to life.
The idea that you can, in the future, speak to a simulation of a deceased person is not new. Several startups are preparing the ground for this future, by compiling data on living and deceased people so that they can create digital avatars of these people. The journey to digital immortality has only just begun.
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