When Her Best Friend Died, She Rebuilt Him Using Artificial Intelligence (theverge.com)

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When Her Best Friend Died, She Rebuilt Him Using Artificial Intelligence (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on Saturday October 8, 2016 @11:33PM from the black-mirror-in-real-life dept.

When Roman Mazurenko died, his friend Eugenia Kuyda created a digital monument to him: an artificial intelligent bot that could "speak" as Roman using thousands of lines of texts sent to friends and family. From the report: "It's pretty weird when you open the messenger and there's a bot of your deceased friend, who actually talks to you," Fayfer said. "What really struck me is that the phrases he speaks are really his. You can tell that's the way he would say it -- even short answers to 'Hey what's up.' It has been less than a year since Mazurenko died, and he continues to loom large in the lives of the people who knew him. When they miss him, they send messages to his avatar, and they feel closer to him when they do. "There was a lot I didn't know about my child," Roman's mother told me. "But now that I can read about what he thought about different subjects, I'm getting to know him more. This gives the illusion that he's here now."

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Bullshit by campuscodi · 2016-10-08 23:46 · Score: 4, Insightful

You can't call something AI if it pulls random text lines from a config file. Talk about an overhyped term. I presume the WordPress Hello Dolly plugin is AI too, right?
1. Re:Bullshit by drinkypoo · 2016-10-09 00:20 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  This is someone dealing with grief, you autistic shitlord.
  That has zero bearing on whether it is AI.
  
  (Is there a word like "autistic" for people who are socially clueless and insensitive but which doesn't insult genuinely autistic people? I need to improve my insult vocab.)
  "Anonymous Coward"
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
2. Re:Bullshit by lorinc · 2016-10-09 00:21 · Score: 1
  
  Well, it's definitely Artificial. As for the Intelligent, people chatting on text messengers rarely do more that pulling random text lines from the back of their brain that are at worse nonsensical, at best useless. So I'd pass on that one.
  
  --
  Video of some good progressive thrash music
3. Re:Bullshit by thinkwaitfast · 2016-10-09 00:39 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  You missed it. Everything involving a computer is called AI now. Especially if it involves a first or second order feedback system. The computer 'knows' where it is and 'knows' where it wants to be so uses the difference using the application of algorithms, typically a subtraction and multiplication.
  See, computers are smart. Smarter than most of us. How else could they do 60 multiplications a second and never make a mistake? Can you do that? I didn't think so. Computers are smarter than you, and by you, I mean all of humanity.
  The end is nigh.
4. Re:Bullshit by bluegutang · 2016-10-09 01:05 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  It's not pulling "random" text lines. It's pulling the text lines that best fit the context, giving (I assume) a somewhat convincing illusion that there is a person on the other end.
  This program is clearly not conscious or intelligent in the sense that human beings are. But the current usage of the term "AI" does not require that.
5. Re:Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-09 01:55 · Score: 1
  
  I can understand you statement, however, your comment seems to imply you know what AI is. I believe any program falls onto the spectrum of AI. Its about the recipient as it is as much about the giver. For example, how do you know I am not some advanced AI or just responding to underdeveloped responses? Again not picking a fight, but I think something to consider.
6. Re:Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-09 02:08 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  This is someone dealing with grief, you autistic shitlord.
  I wouldn't call it "dealing" with.
  Trying to bring back the dead isn't exactly a healthy way to do it.
  Sounds very close to the dude who kept his mothers cellphone so that he could send himself messages from it every now and then.
7. Re:Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-09 02:16 · Score: 1
  
  This is someone dealing with grief, you autistic shitlord.
  There are healthy ways of dealing with grief, and unhealthy ways of dealing with grief.
  
  Pretending like the person isn't really gone is definitely in the unhealthy category.
8. Re:Bullshit by geek · 2016-10-09 02:37 · Score: 1
  
  AI literally has no meaning anymore. I see people calling "Big Data" (another fucking buzzword) AI now. I'm sick to death of it. But you know, if Elon Musk and the Google douches keep saying the words Artificial Intelligence enough then people will start to fucking believe it.
  As to this chick, fuck her. You don't get to call it AI just because your feels hurt.
9. Re: Bullshit by mbeckman · 2016-10-09 03:16 · Score: 1
  
  "This is someone dealing with grief..."
  
  Thanks for admitting that it's not artificial intelligence.
10. Re:Bullshit by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2016-10-09 04:03 · Score: 2
  
  Is there a word like "autistic" for people who are socially clueless and insensitive but which doesn't insult genuinely autistic people?
  
  Anonymous Coward?
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
11. Re:Bullshit by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2016-10-09 04:06 · Score: 2
  
  Depending on which of the two major definitions of AI you prefer, AI is either trying to teach computers to do things that humans currently do better, or it is making computers have behaviors that we'd deem as a mark of intelligence if they were exhibited by humans.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
12. Re:Bullshit by thinkwaitfast · 2016-10-09 05:29 · Score: 1
  
  I used to take many people hours or days to lay out an advert, print it, stuff it in an envelope and mail it. Can you serve up a web page in 0.4uS? I didn't think so. - Teaching computers to do things better than humans. http programmers are AI engineers.
  And inverting a 1200x1200 matrix in a millisecond is definitely the sign of intelligence. It's doubtful whether most people would ever be capable of that.
13. Re:Bullshit by thinkwaitfast · 2016-10-09 05:39 · Score: 2
  
  I used to be with you, but decided it's hopeless and now tag everything with it. Better with a fast collapse.
  Automatic lights on your new car when the sun goes down - artificial intelligence. A noise when your smoke detector smells smoke - artificial intelligence. Sprinklers automatically going on at 5am every morning - artificial intelligence. Hot water from the tank, but not too hot - artificial intelligence. The gas pump telling you to have a nice day - artificial intelligence (wasn't that polite of it?). Even better if it suggests adding tekrameme to your gas to extend the life of your car and eliminate emissions...how thoughtful. There you go, a computer thinking about your best interests and not only of itself. Not only artificial intelligence, but artificial empathy.
14. Re:Bullshit by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2016-10-09 06:39 · Score: 1
  
  Is there a word like "autistic" for people who are socially clueless and insensitive but which doesn't insult genuinely autistic people?
  Redditor.
  4Channer.
  8Channer.
  Computer Programmer.
  
  --
  #DeleteChrome
15. Re:Bullshit by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2016-10-09 06:40 · Score: 1
  
  You missed it. Everything involving a computer is called AI now.
  Also, any new idea involving a computer is "disruptive".
  
  --
  #DeleteChrome
16. Re:Bullshit by hairyfeet · 2016-10-09 06:47 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Sigh. We old greybeards know that one of the great truths is "everything old is new again" and all we have here is the millennials discovering their own versions of ELIZA and the stuff we were doing way back in the 70s. We had movies of machines becoming intelligent, we had people looking at what was in reality very simplistic programs and proclaiming them AI, its just the kids aren't old enough to have experienced any of this so they think they have found something profound...everything old is new again.
  
  --
  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
17. Re:Bullshit by KingBenny · 2016-10-09 06:49 · Score: 2
  
  although i like the way you react to people you don't like :D i kinda disagree,im not sure wether this is healthy or not since the guy is actually dead .. im not much for humans, i keep a picture of my deceased cat, which is to me a deceased kid and i find myself sometimes talking to it like i would, im quite aware she's dead however and the grave outside reminds me the other one will be too someday. This is more like holding on than letting go, HOWEVER, if it helps peope in getting through their day its 100% debatable, oh shit i almost posted as anonymous coward O M G z , the agonies
  i totally agree that its very basic as A.I. might go but its still a decision tree (i suppose) so it counts :D ... it might be more versatile in conversation than some meatsacks i met i have been planning to build a personal assistant to help me remind when to put out the trash and speak based on motion detection for quite some time but money dictates otherwise. Wether that's A.I. or not ... i think its more like a speaking database with a decision tree on it ... if ... then ... else ... quite linear BUT so is most humans, if you look around, and you're a bit of a weirdow, or a halfbreed betazoid theres at least 3/4th of people of which you can predict with certain accuracy what they will say in any given moment so are they A.I. or simply A. ?
  debatable. As to the guy below, yea ,it's dealing with grief, but its also avoiding, like the will to deny in a way
  so
  omg i talk an awful lot for somene who woke up ten minutes ago and hasnt had more than half a cup of coffee
  stop doing that cat
  yes precious
  
  --
  Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?
18. Re:Bullshit by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2016-10-09 06:57 · Score: 1
  
  There were no web pages before computers, so that doesn't make sense.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
19. Re: Bullshit by Zontar+The+Mindless · 2016-10-09 08:12 · Score: 1
  
  "[NULL]"
  LOL.
  
  --
  Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
20. Re:Bullshit by Zontar+The+Mindless · 2016-10-09 08:15 · Score: 1
  
  I still talk to my grandmother sometimes, and she's been dead for fifteen years. One of my chief regrets in life is that I didn't get my shit together in time for her and Granddad to see me make good.
  If that's crazy, so be it.
  
  --
  Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
21. Re:Bullshit by Zontar+The+Mindless · 2016-10-09 08:25 · Score: 1
  
  You confuse "quick" and "smart".
  I can certainly drive a screw much faster with a power drill than I can with a screwdriver, but that's in no wise due to the power drill being more intelligent.
  
  --
  Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
22. Re:Bullshit by Zontar+The+Mindless · 2016-10-09 08:28 · Score: 1
  
  Would you like to play a game?
  
  --
  Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
23. Re:Bullshit by thinkwaitfast · 2016-10-09 16:44 · Score: 1
  
  that's in no wise due to the power drill being more intelligent.
  Depends on if the power drill is driven by a a dc commutator motor or is a brushless esc/FET driven by a uP running a commutation state machine.
24. Re:Bullshit by Whibla · 2016-10-09 23:06 · Score: 1
  
  How about a nice game of chess?
25. Re:Bullshit by drinkypoo · 2016-10-09 23:13 · Score: 1
  
  Depends on if the power drill is driven by a a dc commutator motor or is a brushless esc/FET driven by a uP running a commutation state machine.
  That's still not enough to make it smart. It's got to be able to know when it's stripping a screw and stop on its own or something like that in order to be intelligent.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
26. Re:Bullshit by drinkypoo · 2016-10-09 23:17 · Score: 1
  
  I still talk to my grandmother sometimes, and she's been dead for fifteen years. [...] If that's crazy, so be it.
  It's only crazy if you think she talks back.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
27. Re:Bullshit by RockDoctor · 2016-10-10 07:05 · Score: 1
  
  This is someone dealing with grief, you autistic shitlord.
  No, this is about three levels separated from someone who is "dealing with grief" in a way which many would find very peculiar, and which challenges the meaning of "dealing with" - it's more like "trying to hide from".
  The levels of separation are (i) the original article in the Verge (I assume it was not written by te grief-dealer ; the story isn't interesting enough to be worth following) ; (ii) the unnamed person who submitted it to /. ; and (iii) "msmash", the /. editor who decided to put the submission on the front page.
  It's very unlikely that the original person who is "dealing with grief" is even aware that the case has been mentioned on /.
  (There are several other names mentioned in TFS, which me indicates at least one further layer of reporting beyond the "Verge" article. That doesn't surprise me, as that site raises a "useless clickbait re-posting site" flag in my mind, which is why I really doubt that it's worth clicking on, even if the subject were interesting.)
  
  --
  Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
28. Re:Bullshit by thinkwaitfast · 2016-10-10 12:32 · Score: 1
  
  That's easy. There is an electronic clutch
  
  Most drills have physical clutches. In many cases physical controls are better than electronic, but not with cordless drill clutches. Physical clutches allow a certain amount of torque and then slip. That's wear and tear every time you use it. The drill is also working against itself, since the motor is putting out torque and the clutch is holding it back. With an electronic clutch, the motor only puts out as much torque as is needed. There's no extra wear and tear.
  
  Stripping a screw can be detected by a rapid decrease in torque and increase in speed. Much the same way the AI in anti-lock brakes (developed in 1955) work, although in reverse.
29. Re:Bullshit by thewolfkin · 2016-10-11 08:26 · Score: 1
  
  You can't call something AI if it pulls random text lines from a config file. Talk about an overhyped term. I presume the WordPress Hello Dolly plugin is AI too, right?
  I agree but I presumed the AI would be pulling speech patterns from the AI. Responding as the person would have not necessarily restricted to the text input. Kinda like how Swype and other keyboards learn your texting habits.
  
  --
  Just another second banana
lost people by zephvark · 2016-10-08 23:48 · Score: 3, Interesting

I wanted to rebuild a friend a long time ago. It really wasn't going to happen on a 386, but I figured I'd anyway get to know him better. He was not exactly excited at the prospect. Well, privacy issues, plus the fact that the whole project was not remotely plausible.
It still isn't . The AI isn't anywhere near close to being able to mimic a real person, yet. But I understand why you would try that, and... go for it.
We may not be able to live forever. It's possible that some semblance of who we were can. Call them poems of humanity.
Re:20 Minutes Into The Future by clickety6 · 2016-10-09 00:06 · Score: 4, Informative

More like Black Mirror's "Be Right Back" episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

--
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
I'm not sure about this.... by bernywork · 2016-10-09 00:10 · Score: 5, Insightful

Like everything else, it's got it's good points and it's bad...
The whole point of (Or maybe this is just me) of dealing with someone's death, is the actual letting go part, recognising that they're gone and moving on.
Sure there are times when I miss my friends, and I think of them fondly, whether it's the way that they laughed, smiled, pulled pranks or whatever else, but I also recognise that they're gone. Having them there as a chat bot to talk to, for me, would just, I dunno, make me keep holding onto them... and I don't know if that's healthy...

--
Curiosity was framed; ignorance killed the cat. -- Author unknown
1. Re:I'm not sure about this.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-09 00:21 · Score: 1
  
  I don't see why not. You have no issues with spending hours and hours of your life over the internet talking or writing to people that you will most likely will never meet more than twice if ever.
2. Re:I'm not sure about this.... by kencurry · 2016-10-09 03:48 · Score: 1
  
  I've had a struggle with something really simple - deleting someone who's died from my contact list. As the years roll on we have more and more people we know die. I know that it's a silly thing but deleting them from my contact list is something I still can't do.
  
  --
  sigs are for losers (except to point out that sigs are for losers)
3. Re: I'm not sure about this.... by telchine · 2016-10-09 04:26 · Score: 2
  
  Like everything else, it's got it's good points and it's bad...
  The whole point of (Or maybe this is just me) of dealing with someone's death, is the actual letting go part, recognising that they're gone and moving on.
  My thoughts exactly. Something disturbs me greatly about this story. It reminds me of those that live with the dead body of a loved one because they don't want to believe they're dead.
  At some point they're going to have to turn the AI off, or come to the realisation that this person wasn't just the sum of their IM output before they can move on, and the grief will hit them then.
Re:20 Minutes Into The Future by Taquito+Sensei · 2016-10-09 00:33 · Score: 1

Someone beat me to it. Eventually he's going to be living in the attic.
No he didn't by 110010001000 · 2016-10-09 00:41 · Score: 1

Stop with this "AI" bullshit. We don't have AI, and we probably never will with the way computing is going. And no, chess playing computers and "deep learning" isn't AI even though the hypesters and people wishing for VC funs fervently try to fool the ignorant into thinking it is.
1. Re:No he didn't by 110010001000 · 2016-10-09 03:11 · Score: 1
  
  Um, no. Those are COMPUTER PROGRAMS running algorithms. Jesus Christ! AI Nutters.
2. Re:No he didn't by mark-t · 2016-10-09 04:35 · Score: 2
  
  I''d argue that the only reason we won't ever have AI is because the all-important part of it, "intelligence", is ill defined in the first place. Although we seem to presume to have intelligence ourselves (rather baselessly, I might add), lacking a rigid definition, how could we ascertain if any other apparently living creature is genuinely intelligent, or if they were actually just issuing programmed responses to stimulation, not unlike computers?
  If we can come up with a solid definition of what intelligence actually is, we may very well be able to create AI. But probably not before.
  
  --
  File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
3. Re:No he didn't by 0100010001010011 · 2016-10-09 06:49 · Score: 2
  
  Stop with this "Mechanization" bull shit. We don't have Mechanization and probably never will with the way technology is going. And no, a little cogged gear or cotton gin isn't Mechanization even though the hypesters and people wishing for Development dollars try to fool the ignorant into thinking it is.
4. Re:No he didn't by Zontar+The+Mindless · 2016-10-09 08:32 · Score: 1
  
  Wrong.
  Wrong.
  Right. But it doesn't mean what you say it does, either, so only ½ credit for this one.
  Wrong.
  Wrong.
  TOTAL: 0.5/5
  Maybe you should quit making shit up and learn what stuff actually means.
  
  --
  Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
5. Re:No he didn't by Falos · 2016-10-11 04:58 · Score: 1
  
  A scale that measures weight qualifies as your "AI".
  
  It doesn't even have to measure weight, even a shitty "this is/not heavier than 10Kg" tool counts.
  
  You don't have to achieve human-grade consciousness for AI, fine, movies have made a mess, fine, but don't spread this crap.
Yes... it's wonderful, isn't it! by denzacar · 2016-10-09 00:41 · Score: 3, Informative

Yes... it's wonderful, isn't it!
http://www.maxheadroom.com/ind...

--
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Re:Go see a doctor by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-09 00:43 · Score: 1

I am a doctor you insensitive clod.
Black Mirror S02E01 by Selur · 2016-10-09 00:47 · Score: 2

reminds me of Black Mirror Season Episode 1 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Right_Back_(Black_Mirror))
1. Re:Black Mirror S02E01 by Selur · 2016-10-09 00:47 · Score: 1
  
  oh this was already posted,..
Another life lesson destroyed by machines by holophrastic · 2016-10-09 00:47 · Score: 1

Maybe "moving on" just ain't important anymore.
Y Combinator may already be involved by Applehu+Akbar · 2016-10-09 01:01 · Score: 1

What's really interesting about this is how Kuyda could develop the technology. As the article says, all of us today are accumulating a digital trail of emails, text messages, social media posts, and online commentary that could be used to train this type of neural network as your digital estate.
Don't go through life as an AC.
1. Re:Y Combinator may already be involved by CustomSolvers2 · 2016-10-09 01:39 · Score: 2
  
  From a technical (programming, data analysis, mathematical, etc.) perspective, this article is plainly useless. It seems a very simple implementation working under highly restricted conditions; something neither complex nor innovative. There is a tremendous difference between calling something AI (really easy, mainly lately and for some people) and having a good-enough AI algorithm (really difficult or plainly impossible, depending upon your exact expectations).
  
  This is a non-technical article/development from and for non-technical people. A marketing-based development?
  
  --
  Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
2. Re:Y Combinator may already be involved by 110010001000 · 2016-10-09 02:08 · Score: 1
  
  You are kidding right? This could be done with a simple python script. It is just spewing text messages back from a file, probably with random() thrown in. "Digital estate"? How fucking pretentious.
3. Re:Y Combinator may already be involved by thinkwaitfast · 2016-10-09 05:45 · Score: 1
  
  Everything is marketing-based now. How often do you see any real new tech? It mostly ground to a halt and advertising took its place,
4. Re:Y Combinator may already be involved by CustomSolvers2 · 2016-10-09 06:20 · Score: 2
  
  Unfortunately, you are right. But there are still levels in the tech/marketing distribution and this one seems to consist almost exclusively in marketing.
  
  A simplistic chatbot from old emails = rebuilt him using artificial intelligence?! And the linked page is even worse! There isn't a single word about the algorithm or how it is supposed to work, just pictures and text about this guy, about why she decided to build it and similar abstract ideas completely unrelated to programming or data analysis!
  
  --
  Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
Obligatory XKCD by BlackPignouf · 2016-10-09 01:06 · Score: 3, Funny

https://xkcd.com/686/
Hopefully... by hcs_$reboot · 2016-10-09 01:13 · Score: 1

she'll get over him soon, and find a human replacement. AI is not there yet...

--
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
Prior Art, 1984 by Orgasmatron · 2016-10-09 01:39 · 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.'

He jacked in.
`Dixie?'
`Yeah.'
`You ever try to crack an AI?'
`Sure. I flatlined. First time. I was larkin', jacked up real high,
out by Rio heavy commerce sector. Big biz, multina-
tionals, Government of Brazil lit up like a Christmas tree. Just
larkin' around, you know? And then I started picking up on
this one cube, maybe three levels higher up. Jacked up there
and made a pass.'
`What did it look like, the visual?'
`White cube.'
`How'd you know it was an AI?'
`How'd I know? Jesus. It was the densest ice I'd ever seen.
So what else was it? The military down there don't have any-
thing like that. Anyway, I jacked out and told my computer to
look it up.'
`Yeah?'
`It was on the Turing Registry. AI. Frog company owned
its Rio mainframe.'
Case chewed his lower lip and gazed out across the plateaus
of the Eastern Seaboard Fission Authority, into the infinite
neuroelectronic void of the matrix. `Tessier-Ashpool, Dixie?'
`Tessier, yeah.'
`And you went back?'
`Sure. I was crazy. Figured I'd try to cut it. Hit the first
strata and that's all she wrote. My joeboy smelled the skin
frying and pulled the trodes off me. Mean shit, that ice.'
`And your EEG was flat.'
`Well, that's the stuff of legend, ain't it?'
Case jacked out. `Shit,' he said, `how do you think Dixie
got himself flatlined, huh? Trying to buzz an AI. Great...'
`Go on,' she said, `the two of you are supposed to be
dynamite, right?'
`Dix,' Case said, `I wanna have a look at an AI in Berne.
Can you think of any reason not to?'
`Not unless you got a morbid fear of death, no.'

--
See that "Preview" button?
No she didn't. by mbeckman · 2016-10-09 03:14 · Score: 1

"When Her Best Friend Died, She Rebuilt Him Using Artificial Intelligence"

We're supposed to not be critical of this ridiculous statement in deference to the feelings of someone who lost a love one? That's a new low in Slashdot publishing
How is this different from brain uploading? by TheNarrator · 2016-10-09 03:17 · Score: 1

Ray Kurzweil in his Singularity books seems to think that a computer that can mimic a person is as good as that person so this guy must not be dead.
1. Re:How is this different from brain uploading? by SuricouRaven · 2016-10-09 04:03 · Score: 2
  
  It's a crude mimic. Give it a couple more decades.
upworthy? by Potor · 2016-10-09 04:39 · Score: 1

I for one detest the click-baity headline.
hmmm by XSportSeeker · 2016-10-09 05:51 · Score: 1

I've read or watched this sci-fi before.
Re:20 Minutes Into The Future by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2016-10-09 06:36 · Score: 2

Wasn't this the plot of a Max Headroom episode?
Yes, it was.
I feel for these people... but they really need to figure out how to move on.

--
#DeleteChrome
necroteliphillia by nicoleb_x · 2016-10-09 06:47 · Score: 1

necroteliphillia, or something like that.
Kinda like the idea... by MMC+Monster · 2016-10-09 07:12 · Score: 1

But why wait until someone is dead?
I would be quite interested in something like this combing the internet and by text messages for all my posts and creating an AI that would respond like I would. At the very least, it could give insight to my friends and family after I've gone. Particularly if a decade after I'm dead my kids would want to ask me a question.

--
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
Re:Chat bots are easy by Zontar+The+Mindless · 2016-10-09 08:36 · Score: 1

Just curious--how long did it last before CHALLENGE ACCEPTED?

--
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
Star Trek by ArtemaOne · 2016-10-09 09:10 · Score: 1

They did this in various Star Trek episodes at least thrice that I can think of, using holo-technology to host it.
1. Re:Star Trek by spaceman375 · 2016-10-09 12:55 · Score: 1
  
  In one episode, data unwillingly hosted the dead personality of his creator's mentor, his grandfather if you will.
  
  --
  On the one hand you take life too seriously, and on the other, you do not take playful existence seriously enough. Seth
2. Re:Star Trek by ArtemaOne · 2016-10-09 13:03 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, I'm up to at least five that I can think of now, if you include TNG, DS9, Voyager. I have no doubt there are more.
Re:That's what ghosts are for? by RavenLrD20k · 2016-10-10 03:05 · Score: 1

Memories can be used in the generation of fantasies. These fantasies can be used to move the memory model of a person forward. If the actual person is still alive, there's the possibility of being able to reconcile the fantastic model against the actual person (talk out the fantasy with that person to see if they'd react the way you think they would). If the actual person is not alive...then the model exists solely as a non-reconcilable construct within the mind of the person generating the fantasy.