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Alice Yan

After a man in China was killed in a road accident last year, his family hired an artificial intelligence (AI) technology team to create a digital version of him to comfort his elderly mother.
The AI creation is able to chat with his octogenarian mother online and help her live with the reality of her only child’s death.
The incident was exposed by the AI team leader Zhang Zewei, who is based in eastern Jiangsu province, according to the media outlet Litchi News.
The family, who live in Shandong province, also in the eastern part of the country, is one of Zhang’s clients.

At the beginning of last year, the mother’s only child died in a traffic accident.
His family hoped to conceal the news from his mother, who is in her 80s and has heart disease.
The man’s son contacted Zhang, asking him to create a digital twin of his father by providing numerous pictures, videos and audio recordings of him speaking in his dialect.
The creation looks exactly like the dead man and even mimics his habit of leaning forward while speaking, the report said.
The virtual son talks to the mother every day via a video call at a chat app.

The mother often urges the “son” to eat well, wear warm clothes and pay attention to his personal safety when going out.
In reply, the “son” promises he will follow her advice. He adds that he has to work in another city to earn money and could not return to accompany her.
“You should call me more often so that I know whether you live well or not in another city. I am missing you so much. I feel so sorry that I cannot see you in person,” said the mother in one conversation.
The “son” replied: “OK, mum. But I am too busy. I cannot talk to you for a long time. You take care of yourself. When I have made enough money, I will return home to pay my filial piety to you.”
So far the mother is not aware that her son is dead. More details of the family were not disclosed in the report.
Zhang, who has been providing the AI service for three years, jokingly refers to himself as “deceiving people’s emotions”.

“What we do is to comfort the living,” he was quoted as saying.
The news received a huge response on mainland social media, with internet users’ opinions split.
“It is very touching. The AI son is a gentle lie,” said one online observer.
“What a significant invention. I would like to resurrect my father,” said another.
But other people took a different view. “I do not side with this family. The mother has been cheated for a long time. I am afraid once the truth comes to light, it will cause her more harm,” said another person.


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People & Culture

Tech team which ‘deceives people’s emotions’ make virtual copy of dead son who ‘talks’ to his mother via video, says he works in another city


Tech team which ‘deceives people’s emotions’ make virtual copy of dead son who ‘talks’ to his mother via video, says he works in another city.


Artificial intelligence

China family creates AI clone to comfort elderly mum after only son dies in car accident

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Tech team which ‘deceives people’s emotions’ make virtual copy of dead son who ‘talks’ to his mother via video, says he works in another city

Tech team which ‘deceives people’s emotions’ make virtual copy of dead son who ‘talks’ to his mother via video, says he works in another city