00:00If you had a chance to talk to someone that died that you love, would you take it?
00:09Without knowing what the risk is, without knowing what the outcome is, would you take
00:12it?
00:13I took it.
00:16American Christy Angel chatted with an AI bot, which she had to train first with a few
00:20personal details about her deceased boyfriend.
00:25This experience, it was creepy.
00:32There were things that scared me and a lot of stuff I didn't want to hear.
00:39In the documentary Eternal You, two German filmmakers explore what it's like to try to
00:44bring the dead back to life in some way using AI.
00:53People always underestimate the effect of talking to machines that pretend to be human.
01:00The AI tricks people by repeatedly using small portions from the deceased person's dataset,
01:08alluding for example to songs you listened to together or movies you watched together.
01:16The psychological consequences of this kind of AI haven't yet been researched.
01:20That's why sociologist Matthias Meitzler wants to know how it impacts grief.
01:25You don't know what the avatar will say next or how it will use the original material.
01:35Would it lie about the deceased person, perhaps even distort the memories you have of them?
01:40And what about manipulation?
01:44Someone has to configure the avatar after all.
01:47What interests are at play here?
01:49And if it's a company pursuing economic objectives, well, that might not always be beneficial
01:54for the grieving process.
01:56Here, a grieving mother says goodbye to her young daughter in virtual reality.
02:03The encounter was filmed for TV in 2020 and sparked controversy.
02:08The girl's avatar was created from photos and videos.
02:15It was very moving, also disturbing, but I can see why someone might want to do it.
02:21Indeed, the virtual meeting was a positive experience for the mother.
02:26Perhaps in future, digital avatars could help us say goodbye or when we just want to remember.
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