A dead woman was able to converse with mourners at her own funeral and even answer questions that were set to her, or at least appeared to, thanks to new AI-powered technology.
Marina Smith passed away in June at the age of 87, but before she did so, she recorded footage making a speech and answering numerous questions about her life.
This was used by Los Angeles-based AI company StoryFile, which was co-founded by her son Dr Stephen Smith, to create a two-way holographic video experience.
Mourners at the funeral were able to put questions to the holograph and receive answers about her life.
Dr Smith told the Telegraph that his mother had actually provided answers with “new details and honesty”.
He said that people feel “emboldened” when recording their answers, which could mean that loved ones could get a “freer, truer version” of the deceased.
Ms Smith was a Holocaust activist and educator who co-founded the National Holocaust Centre in Nottinghamshire and was awarded an MBE for her work.
The technology allowed her to answer questions about her work and beliefs, and to reveal stories and details about her childhood that few of the mourners were aware of.
Technology creates a virtual clone to speak in the person’s own words
The StoryFile technology records the person speaking and answering questions using a bank of 20 synchronised digital cameras.
This is used to create a digital ‘clone’ of the subject, and the footage is then processed, tagged and used to train the AI algorithm to respond to questions put to the hologram.
It selects clips based on the question, adding natural language processing and even pauses as the clone ‘thinks’ about its response to make the conversation seem more natural.
The result is uploaded to StoryFile’s platform, where others can interact with it.
Dr Smith was keen to point out that the words used were all his mother’s own, meaning that the AI was not creating answers.
He also said that his company’s ‘conversational video’ technology – which is available in the UK from this week – could have applications beyond a final farewell at funerals.
He said that he could envisage people continuously updating their life story with similar technology, so that a user could, for example, speak to their 18-year-old self at the age of 50, or introduce their younger selves to their own children.
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