In this episode, we explore the growing trend of people using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to resurrect their deceased loved ones, and how this technology is being used to do so in order to serve as an emotional crutch for devastated parents.
00:04:31.480And as angry as you are, and justifiably angry as the family is, I heard the forgiveness, and I know Mr. Horkasidas appreciated it, but so did I.
00:04:45.100It's hard to imagine being digitally brought back only to be thrown into a courtroom to face your killer, but our next story is even more unsettling.
00:04:52.380A parent who created a digital version of their deceased child only to have his digital avatar suffer an interview with former CNN reporter Jim Acosta.
00:05:02.420The parents of Joaquin Oliver, one of the students killed in the 2018 Parkland High School shooting, have created an AI version of their late son, who partook in an interview with journalist Jim Acosta on Monday, August 4th.
00:05:13.320The interview took place on what would have been Oliver's 25th birthday.
00:05:17.100The conversation, which aired on Acosta's Substack, found the journalist essentially talking with an animated photo of Oliver with moving lips and other small gestures.
00:05:25.060I would like to know what your solution would be for gun violence.
00:07:05.840Oliver's father, Emmanuel, said in an interview with Acosta that the AI model was trained on
00:07:10.140general information as well as knowledge based on things that his son wrote, he said.
00:07:15.280In his interview with Acosta, Oliver's father explained that his mother frequently interacts with this AI watch.
00:07:23.220Also mentioned that I understand that I don't want anyone to think that I am in some way trying to bring my son back.
00:07:36.080It's sadly, I can't, I wish I could, however, the technology is out there and, and we can, there's two things I can hear his voice again, which is something that Patricia loves.
00:07:51.380Patricia will spend hours asking questions.
00:07:55.440She, like any other mothers, she loves to hear Joaquin saying, I love you, mommy, you know?
00:08:20.040And I heard this from, from tech guys that have other intentions that moving forward, we will have Joaquin on stage in the middle of a debate.
00:08:31.800And his knowledge, you saw it, his knowledge is unlimited, um, and it's based on, um, knowledge that is out there through artificial intelligence, but also knowledge that we were able to upload based on things that he wrote, he said, he posted.
00:08:51.600So this is a very legit Joaquin, the one that has spoken to you.
00:08:58.080He really loved LeBron and he really loved the Miami Heat.
00:09:00.780As a dad and husband, I'm always thinking about two things, keeping my family safe when I'm home and making sure my handgun is secure, but accessible.
00:09:08.780The longest time it felt like I had to choose between either locking it away where it's useless in an emergency or leaving it out for anyone to be able to access.
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00:09:59.500That's 10% off and a free Stopbox Pro.
00:16:30.400And it strongly suggests, of course, that this family hasn't come to terms with the fact that Joaquin is actually dead.
00:16:37.480It's obviously a tragedy that he was killed.
00:16:39.520But no man and certainly no computer can bring him back to Earth.
00:16:42.920The people who created Oliver, presumably, find that outcome to be so bleak and incomprehensible that they feel compelled to run away from it, which is understandable on an emotional level.
00:16:53.060I mean, I can only imagine how I would respond if, God forbid, I lost a child.
00:18:16.660But you have done something horrible to your memory of her.
00:18:20.900Your mother in life was a big, vibrant, interesting, complicated, multifaceted person.
00:18:27.620Somebody with virtues and vices and endearing quirks and probably some not as endearing quirks.
00:18:34.040She was a human being, in other words.
00:18:35.500And now you've made her into a gimmick, into a party trick.
00:18:39.440A piece of content that exists for your amusement.
00:18:43.600AI will never be able to capture all of the dimensions of your mother, what made your mother who she was.
00:18:50.800It can only perform a cheap imitation, mimicry.
00:18:53.240And now, if you succeed in convincing yourself that this AI avatar actually is your mother, you will have succeeded in convincing yourself that your mother is someone far, far less interesting and wonderful than who your mother really was.
00:19:04.780To be totally frank, you will have turned your mother into someone who isn't even worth missing in the first place.
00:19:10.860I mean, if your mother was really as flat and boring and utterly devoid of human personality and warmth as the AI facsimile of her, well, you would hardly even notice that she was gone.
00:19:21.640She would have been a non-entity, barely existing in the first place.
00:19:37.880Your mother, who existed in life for a thousand reasons, to do a thousand things, now exists, quote-unquote, solely to serve you and talk to you and make you feel better.
00:19:53.240You have made her into someone who never needs any time to herself, never says no to you, never lets you down, is never unavailable, never asleep, never away.
00:20:05.200Always just right there on your phone, ready to amuse and distract you and make you feel better whenever you want, for however long you want.
00:21:36.640Just assuming at the outset that there's nothing we can do to prevent or mitigate the dystopian nightmare scenario that we, again, are just, like, strolling into.
00:21:49.440We cannot bring our deceased loved ones back from the dead.