A Microsoft patent could blur the line between life and death. Artificial intelligence is supposed to make conversations with the deceased possible. However, after outraged reactions, the group is rowing back.
Especially in the event of bereavement, many people only want to talk to the deceased one more time. A technology from Microsoft could make exactly that possible indirectly – but the reactions are mostly negative.
Users called the software idea creepy, disturbing and repulsive for people who are currently experiencing a bereavement. Lots TwitterUsers were reminded of an episode of the dystopian series “Black Mirror”.
In it, a young woman continues to write in a chat program with her boyfriend, who was killed in a car accident. “Tech companies still think that Black Mirror is a blueprint and not a warning,” wrote a Twitter user.
Microsoft’s chatbot is also likely to deter privacy advocates. Because so that he can imitate a deceased person, he uses previous conversations, voice messages, social media posts, photos and even letters. That’s what CNN reports.
Using this data, the chatbot would be trained to speak like the deceased. And if the artificial intelligence should not find an answer in the personal data of the dead person, it simply uses information from the vastness of the Internet, according to the patent.
Microsoft: Does not meet our ethical standards
But the patent will probably not mature into a product. On Twitter, Tim O’Brien, who is responsible for the programs with artificial intelligence at Microsoft, assured that the company had no further plans with the patent. Even he admitted that the idea was “disturbing”.
The patent was applied for in 2017 and no longer complies with the current ethical standards that the group has set. However, it shows very precisely how far artificial intelligence meanwhile can go.
Computer programs can not only create fake personalities, but also create virtual models of real people. Even the voice of a deceased person and a 3D model are no longer a hurdle for artificial intelligence. Microsoft at least states that it has its own ethics committee reviewing all of its inventions.
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