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AI afterlife
Deep Dive: How some people use AI to talk to deceased loved ones
Jack Shields
December 12, 2023
Welcome back!
There’s a new ethical dilemma that’s turning heads in the world of AI — the use of chatbots to create avatars of deceased loved ones.
Let’s get right to it.
In today’s Daily Update:
🗞️ EU reaches deal on world’s first comprehensive AI rules
🤖 How some people are using AI to talk to deceased loved ones
📸 McDonald’s to deploy generative AI in 2024
🚨 AI Roundup: Four quick hits
Read time: 3 minutes
TOP NEWS
🗞️ EU reaches deal on world’s first comprehensive AI rules
Source: Aïda Amer / Axios
European Union negotiators just reached a tentative deal on the world’s first comprehensive AI rules.
The details:
The Artificial Intelligence Act aims to ensure oversight of high-risk AI models through increased transparency, risk management and human review.
It covers “systemic risks” like online disinformation, cyberattacks, the creation of bioweapons and the use of facial recognition.
Financial penalties for violations reach up to 35 million euros ($38 million) or 7% of a company’s global turnover.
The eventual law won’t fully take effect until 2025 at the earliest.
The bigger picture: This highly anticipated AI act is a polarizing topic. Skeptics say that the act doesn’t go far enough, while other critics think government oversight will destroy European AI advancement. Either way, Europe has established itself as the global leader on AI regulation as the U.S. and China struggle to catch up.
DEEP DIVE: AI ETHICAL DILEMMA
🤖 How some people are using AI to talk to deceased loved ones
Generated by Adobe Firefly
The New York Times reports that some people are turning to AI to create avatars of deceased loved ones. It’s a source of comfort for many users, but is viewed as morbid and creepy by others.
What you should know:
HereAfter AI is an interactive memory app that generates responses based on hours of interviews conducted before someone dies.
StoryFile goes a step further by producing interactive videos in which subjects appear to make eye contact, breathe and blink while responding to questions.
75-year-old Dr. Stephenie Lucas Oney created a profile of her father for her four children and eight grandchildren. HereAfter AI enables them to ask William Lucas about his experiences as a police officer, FBI agent and judge.
Matt Asner, son of the actor Ed Asner, was blown away by his father’s StoryFile. He played the file at his father’s memorial service, which moved some people but disturbed others.
Lynne Nieto said “it was a little hard to watch” her husband’s StoryFile for the first time about six months after he died.
According to StoryFile, about 5,000 people have created profiles on its platform.
Experts say ethical questions surrounding these chatbots come down to consent.
Crucial quote: “The crucial thing is keeping a realistic perspective of what it is that you’re examining — that it’s not that this person is still alive, communicating with you, but that you’re revisiting what they left,” said Dr. David Spiegel, the associate chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford School of Medicine.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
📸 McDonald’s to deploy generative AI in 2024
Source: Getty Images
McDonald’s is partnering with Google to apply generative AI to its operations beginning in 2024.
Key points:
The fast food giant says Google’s AI will help the company provide “hotter, fresher food” for customers.
Thousands of stores will get hardware and software upgrades, alongside updates to ordering kiosks and the McDonald’s mobile app.
McDonald’s offered few details on how AI will be used, but says services provided by Google Cloud will help managers “quickly spot and enact solutions to reduce business disruptions.”
The company also says the new system will “reduce complexity” for store crews without replacing workers.
The relevance: 63% of organizations intend to adopt AI globally within the next three years. Through its new partnership with Google, the most valuable fast food brand in the world is moving toward the AI-powered workplaces of the future.
MORE TRENDING NEWS
🚨 AI Roundup: Four quick hits
Generated by Adobe Firefly
U.S. Regulation: MIT group releases white papers on governance of AI.
European AI: French startup and OpenAI rival Mistral AI closes a $415 million funding round.
Hollywood Effect: Microsoft will include labor unions in discussions about AI’s impact on the workforce.
Shrinking Staff: Spotify cuts 1,500 jobs (17% of its staff) in third layoff round this year.
THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY