A young man living in China has sparked controversy by using artificial intelligence (AI) to create a video in which he converses freely with his deceased grandmother. While some argue that using AI to restore the deceased is not an appropriate way of mourning, the video has gone viral on social media.
According to IT media outlets such as Petapixel on April 18, Wu, a 24-year-old resident of Shanghai, used the chatbot GPT and an image-generating AI program to create a video of himself conversing with his deceased grandmother and posted it on social media.
In the video, Wu says, “This year, my father and I are going to our hometown to spend Lunar New Year with my grandmother,” and asks, “My father called my grandmother recently. What did she say?” His grandmother responds by saying, “She told you to stop drinking wine and playing cards, and to live a frugal life.”
When Wu asks what his grandmother bought for Lunar New Year, she replies, “I bought two bottles of cooking oil. One bottle costs 75 yuan (10.90$).”
According to reports, Wu was raised by his grandmother in his hometown in southern China after his parents divorced in his childhood. Later, he worked as a visual arts designer in Shanghai, but returned to his hometown for 15 days when he heard that his grandmother was ill. However, his grandmother passed away at the age of 84 due to COVID-19 in January, and Wu was unable to say goodbye to her even in her unconscious state.
Feeling devastated, Wu decided to use AI technology to “resurrect” his grandmother. He created an avatar that represents his grandmother’s appearance in life by applying AI technology to audio recordings of her voice and old photos. He also trained it to respond like his grandmother through conversations with GPT. “I shared many details about my grandmother’s life with GPT in hopes of communicating with her in her tone,” he said.
Wu said, “Currently, my grandmother can only engage in simple conversations, and AI cannot understand more complex conversations.” He added, “The ‘Grandma Resurrection’ project is just for psychological stability. It’s nice to be able to talk to my grandmother and look at her.”
Wu’s story has become a hot topic on Chinese social media such as Weibo. However, some people argue about whether it is appropriate to apply AI technology to the deceased. One user commented, “Restoring the deceased with AI is one way to alleviate grief, but it is not a permanent solution. It is just a psychological comfort for the living.”