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Dadbot: How a Son Made a Chatbot of His Dying Dad (www.cbc.ca)
theodp writes: In A Son's Race to Give His Dying Father Artificial Immortality (Warning: may be paywalled; alternate source), James Vlahos recounts his efforts to turn the story of his father's life -- as told by his 80-year-old Dad in his final months after being diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer -- into what Vlahos calls "a Dadbot -- a chatbot that emulates not a children's toy but the very real man who is my father." Given the limits of tech at the time (2016) and his own inexperience as a programmer, Vlahos recognized that the bot would never be more than a shadow of his real dad, but hoped to get the bot to communicate in his father's distinctive manner and convey at least some sense of his personality. Of the first time he demoed the bot for his parents, Vlahos writes: "Emboldened, I bring up something that has preoccupied me for months. 'This is a leading question, but answer it honestly,' I say, fumbling for words. 'Does it give you any comfort, or perhaps none -- the idea that whenever it is that you shed this mortal coil, that there is something that can help tell your stories and knows your history?' My dad looks off. When he answers, he sounds wearier than he did moments before. 'I know all of this shit,' he says, dismissing the compendium of facts stored in the Dadbot with a little wave. But he does take comfort in knowing that the Dadbot will share them with others. 'My family, particularly. And the grandkids, who won't know any of this stuff.' He's got seven of them, including my sons, Jonah and Zeke, all of whom call him Papou, the Greek term for grandfather. 'So this is great,' my dad says. 'I very much appreciate it.'"
why can't Comcast make a working one? I manage our Comcast connections at over thirty locations, and I've never seen their online chat ever offer a useful solution.
I read the original story and almost started crying, which would have been embarrassing for a 63 year old man at work.
I lost my father about a year ago, and it wasn't until after he died that I realized that I really should have been recording all of his stories while he was alive. He was a salesman and a preacher (same job different products), and could tell jokes and stories endlessly.
My Mother has taken my idea and is visiting what few of Dad's relatives that are left to get recordings of what they remember of his stories. Because of distances my grandchildren never knew my dad, and I really regret that. Maybe by collecting his stories from those who remember him we can keep some of that alive.
With 7 billion living humans, dead ones who missed the chatbot boat, and more new humans on the way, it would be a good thing to consider the practicality and usefulness of 'chatbots'.
It is possible that very few lives are worth recording. Of course yours is. But all those others? What did your neighbor accomplish that merits sharing with future generations? Your boss? Sure they were sweet, generous, loving people ... like billions of others. But in what way were they special?
Some day we may be able to record the contents of a brain, possibly even reproduce its functionality. Is that the next step? Is it a wise thing to do for everyone?
We already have a lot of noise in our lives. We don't need more. Let the dead lie in peace. Give them the right to be forgotten.
...omphaloskepsis often...