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Startup Out of MIT Promises Digital Afterlife — Just Hand Over Your Data

Posted by timothy on from the ashes-to-ashes-dust-to-nsa dept.

v3rgEz writes "A new startup out of MIT offers early adopters a chance at the afterlife, of sorts: It promises to build an AI representation of the dearly departed based on chat logs, email, Facebook, and other digital exhaust generated over the years. "Eterni.me generates a virtual YOU, an avatar that emulates your personality and can interact with, and offer information and advice to your family and friends after you pass away," the team promises. But can a chat bot plus big data really produce anything beyond a creepy, awkward facsimile?"

22 of 241 comments (clear)

  1. No. by damn_registrars · · Score: 4, Interesting

    But can a chat bot plus big data really produce anything beyond a creepy, awkward facsimile?"

    No, it cannot. Once you're dead, you're dead. Game over.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    1. Re:No. by SJHillman · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't know... most of the people I know that use Twitter and Facebook heavily have slightly less personality than most software.

    2. Re:No. by dmbasso · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, it cannot. Once you're dead, you're dead. Game over.

      True that. I doubt any software can truly emulate the nuance of human personality based solely on pictures and tweets.

      Actually it is worse than that. People should learn to grieve and then go on with their lives. A bot would only hinder this necessary mental healing process.

      --
      `echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
    3. Re:No. by jdbuz · · Score: 5, Funny

      I just want it to keep updating my FB status with predetermined posts such as, "Wow! Who knew they had free Wi-Fi up here?"

    4. Re:No. by bob_super · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'll take "Cool, all the promiscuous girls are down here!"

  2. Yikes by Bovius · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Holy balls that is creepy. At best, this would really weird people out who knew the dearly departed. At worst, it would provide a hook for traumatized loved ones to avoid dealing with the grief and get increasingly bottled up in a fantasy world.

    It is difficult for me to imagine ways in which this would be a good thing.

  3. Re:All of this has happened before... by randomhacks · · Score: 5, Informative

    You're right. Channel 4 (UK) Black Mirror - Episode 1: "Martha and Ash are a young couple who move to a remote cottage. The day after the move, Ash is killed, returning the hire van. At the funeral, Martha's friend Sarah tells her about a new service that lets people stay in touch with the deceased. By using all his past online communications and social media profiles, a new 'Ash' can be created. Martha is disgusted by the concept but then in a confused and lonely state she decides to talk to 'him'..." Definitively worth watching.

  4. Before death? by WPIDalamar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Can I get this before I die? I hate talking with people sometimes.

    1. Re:Before death? by Ichijo · · Score: 4, Funny

      A chatty avatar version of me that keeps people on the phone as long as possible without committing to anything would be a great way to get telemarketers to stop calling. Maybe even better than Lenny. As a bonus, it would be seamless: just push a button in the middle of a conversation and the avatar would take over without the caller knowing.

      MIT, please make it happen.

      --
      Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
  5. Online and RL personalities are different by Calavar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Even if these guys could make an AI algorithm that is 100% accurate if given the correct input, internet posts are not the best seed data. People tend to be dicks on the internet. I'm pretty sure most people would not like to interact with the online versions of their departed loved ones.

    1. Re:Online and RL personalities are different by mark-t · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm inclined to think that in general, people who act like dicks on the internet are actually dicks in real life who at best, possibly for reasons of conformity, may just be curbing their tendency towards being a dick around people they meet in real life to avoid the potential social and cultural complications. That doesn't mean that's who they really are, however.

      --
      File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
  6. Just like the Vu-Age church! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    From the Max Headroom episode Deities.

  7. Interesting. by Eric+S.+Smith · · Score: 5, Funny

    Tell me more about can a chat bot plus big data really produce anything beyond a creepy, awkward facsimile?

    --
    Mind the Gap
  8. Caprica by stewsters · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Caprica. Watch it. Doesn't end well.

  9. "Black Mirror" episode by MDMurphy · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is the basis of S02E01 of "Black Mirror"
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...

    The episode did a pretty good representation of the idea, showing things that the the dearly departed's avatar would know and not know based on their chat and email history.

  10. Dixie Flatline by SpectreBlofeld · · Score: 3, Interesting

    `How you doing, Dixie?'
        `I'm dead, Case. Got enough time in on this Hosaka to
    figure that one.'
        `How's it feel?'
        `It doesn't.'
        `Bother you?'
        `What bothers me is, nothin'~ does.'
        `How's that?'
        `Had me this buddy in the Russian camp, Siberia, his thumb
    was frostbit. Medics came by and they cut it off. Month later
    he's tossin'~ all night. Elroy, I said, what's eatin'~ you? Goddam
    thumb's itchin'~, he says. So I told him, scratch it. McCoy, he
    says, it's the _other_ goddam thumb.' When the construct laughed,
    it came through as something else, not laughter, but a stab of
    cold down Case's spine. `Do me a favor, boy.'
        `What's that, Dix?'
        `This scam of yours, when it's over, you erase this goddam
    thing.'

    -Neuromancer

  11. Awkward and Creepy? by Hatta · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, at least they can recreate the readership of /.

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    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  12. Re:All of this has happened before... by TWiTfan · · Score: 3, Funny

    I seem to recall a similar situation when someone tried creating such an avatar back on Caprica.

    --
    The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
  13. Caprica by TWiTfan · · Score: 3, Informative

    Entire series.

    --
    The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
  14. All that data by laie_techie · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Do you trust any company with all the data it would take to train the AI? Do you trust the employees of that company not to read your emails and online posts and use it against you before you die? Do you trust their servers not to get hacked resulting in massive identity theft?

  15. I am the Slashdotter,Please describe your problems by Dogtanian · · Score: 5, Funny

    An argument has been made (by both myself and others) that at least one slashdot user is a script already. Not necessarily an intelligent one, but a script nonetheless.

    Does it bother you that an argument has been made (by both yourself and others) that at least one slashdot user is a script already?

    --
    "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  16. This can't possibly go wrong. by Minwee · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "Honey? Your dad's on the phone again. He wants you to switch to a new insurance carrier, and hire someone to have the carpets cleaned."