Microsoft has filed a patent that would allow the company to digitally revive their deceased loved ones as chatbots, using the individual’s personal information.
The Independent reports that the tech giant has raised the possibility of creating an artificial intelligence-based chatbot that would be built on a person’s profile, which includes their “images, voice data, social media posts, electronic messages”, among other types of personal information. It is understood that the chatbot could simulate a human conversation through voice commands and / or text chats.
However, Microsoft has taken the concept a step further by suggesting that a 2D or 3D model of a specific person could be created using “images and deeper information, or video data” of a person to build a chatbot that has the same characteristics and behavior based on the digital output of a specific person.
“The specific person [a la que representa el chat bot] it can correspond to a past or present entity (or a version of it), such as a friend, a relative, an acquaintance, a celebrity, a fictional character, a historical figure etc. “explains the patent. “The specific person can also correspond to oneself (for example, the user who creates / improves the chatbot”.).
This whole concept is not much different from the plot of the Black Mirror episode “I’ll be right back” (Season 2), which tells a simple but effective story about the pain of losing a loved one. In the episode, Hayley Atwell and Domhnall Gleeson play Martha and Ash. After Ash dies in a car accident, Martha discovers a technology that she can mimic a deceased person based on her online history.
The episode is an excellent example of a very human story that is enhanced with a particular piece of technology from the future, designed to make life easier. However, Martha’s journey with her AI boyfriend explores many of the possible pros and cons of these kinds of technological advancements, including some of the implications of living in a digital age.
