POSTMODERN NECROMANCY
Korean firm creates AI avatars for dead loved ones that can converse

By Jeong Hyeon-hwan & Kim Tae-gyu, UPI News Korea

South Korean firm DeepBrain AI has come up with a service for recreating a digital replica of a deceased parent with a picture and short audio clips. Image courtesy of DeepBrain AI



SEOUL, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- South Korea's DeepBrain AI said Tuesday it has succeeded in creating digital avatars of former loved ones that can engage in a two-way communication.

The Seoul-based company said a single photo plus some 10 seconds of the deceased's recorded voice is all that's needed for creating a virtual clone that can converse in real time.

The advantage of AI machine learning will enable an avatar with close similarity to the client's loved one in appearance with synchronized lips, mouth and head gestures.

"Let's say a client wants an avatar of his mother. In the past, we needed around three hours of interview material from when she was alive in order to create a digital replica of the deceased," a DeepBrain AI executive told UPI News Korea.

"But now, we can generate a replica even after the loved one has passed away because all we require with the advancement in AI technology is a picture plus a short audio clip of her voice," she said.

The firm said it planned to team up with memorial halls and funeral service providers in widening its services to more customers. In 2022, it agreed to a partnership with the country's leading funeral service operator Preedlife to offer a similar service.

Asked about the price, the DeepBarain executive said it would depend on various factors of the service provided.

"Currently, we offer the service only in Korean language, but it will be expanded to English and Chinese in the near future," she said.

With AI technology constantly evolving, this is not the first time that a company has recreated people as avatars to enable a connection between the living and the deceased.

But there are also ethical debates about such contact.

"We are in the early stages of such technology, this talking with an AI version of a person. There could be challenges, including ethical ones such as copyright issues," Seogang University Professor Yoon Seok-bin said in a phone interview. "However, it's too early to predict how such controversies might play out down the road."