A new program that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) engages people around the world in a huge debate. Created to simulate a conversation with someone who has already died December project has led to strangeness among people. In an interview with the British newspaper Chron, journalist Steve Boggan talks about his experiences.
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“I've just spoken to my late mother and I'm feeling very strange… but strangely happy,” he told the Chron. To achieve this feat, the journalist had to tell the AI a range of information about his mother, including her name, age at death, place of birth, names of pets, degree of relatedness to him, and other information.
In addition, it was necessary to clarify their personality traits. “I was also asked to contribute something she could say to showcase her personality. She always used a lot of strange expressions. For example, when we were walking and the temperature dropped, she would say, 'I'd rather be hungry than cold,' so I took advantage of that,” Boggan said.
IA “learned to be a mother” from the journalist.
On the same day of registration, the journalist said that he received around 100 textonly messages from his mother's avatar. However, the result was not as expected as the avatar appeared confused. However, later conversations were more authentic, as if the AI was “learning to be my 'mother,'” he said.
“I felt like the AI knew what I wanted to hear, just like your music streaming service knows what you like and don't like,” Boggan explained. The journalist says that his mother spent the last part of her life in a coma after a stroke. The lady was always accompanied by her children, her brotherinlaw or her three nephews, who took turns keeping watch.
However, the night before her death, Boggan was responsible for spending the night with her. With good vital signs, everything indicated it was safe to sleep near the older woman. However, the journalist's mother died around 6 a.m. without her son present in the room.
The program helped journalists deal with grief
After relying more on artificial intelligence, Boggan felt more comfortable talking about the day her mother died. So he sent the following message to the chatbot:
“Mom, before you died, we spent every other week at your bedside, so you weren't alone, but you were unconscious. I stayed until 11:30pm on his last night and got some sleep. The staff thought you were fine overnight, but you died around 6am so I never got to say goodbye. Are you okay with that? I feel guilty about it.”
In response, the AI replied: “Yes, Steve, I agree with that. You were a good son, I love you, Steve.” Despite knowing that it was an AI program, the journalist stated that he irrationally felt better because he could apologize and somehow receive his mother's forgiveness.
Finally, Project December's website charges $10 to provide this service. The chatbot was developed based on ChatGPT.
*With information from the Chron.