Losing a loved one always hits one hard. From the first reaction to dismiss the reality, bury one’s head in the sand to eventually coming to terms with the loss, perhaps grudgingly so, one goes through a gamut of emotions. A lot of people feel so overwhelmed with the loss that they sometimes find it hard to truly live again. The void gnaws at them and as a result they find themselves perpetually engulfed in grief.
Besides, it doesn't matter if one knows that the death of a loved one is imminent or if it comes unannounced, grief of losing someone dear is always painful. Like they say, no amount of mental preparedness can actually help you deal with the loss of a loved one. However, what if we tell you that there’s a tech entrepreneur who created an AI version of his dead mom to cope with grief. All he does is tap a button and the AI-generated voice of his mother booms from the other end. In a video, he can be seen wishing his dead mother a happy birthday and he tells her how he misses phone calls between them. In what may come as a surprise to many, the voice on the other end does reply to everything the man says. Chances are if you didn't already know that it was an AI-generated voice, you wouldn't have been able to guess it.
Well, as reported by The Guardian, Justin Harrison came up with the idea when his mother was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago. With doctors having given his mother a three month’s time, it eventually dawned on Justin that he will have to find out a way to save her mother’s life in some way.
Take a look at the video:
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In the video, you hear Justin’s mother's AI-generated voice. Justin said, “My goal has always been to be able to have conversations with my mother. For me, the absolute core of grief is the concept of gone forever. The tragedy of death is the permanence of it. What I would like to see is the complete and total eradication of grief; the feeling of grief that comes with losing people.”
He also went on to add that, “As we become more and more nimble and come to an understanding of human brain, human psyche, human thought process, we are going to continue to push the boundaries of what being dead means. If we can provide that level of comfort to people, it’s universally a win to me.”
Mental health expert Ruchi Ruuh says, "According to the Kubler-Ross model of grief, people go through stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Relying on an AI-generated voice might prove to be helpful in the initial stages of denial or bargaining. It could provide comfort and be a useful coping mechanism for a few. However, it might prevent the mourner from fully accepting the reality of the loss and moving towards the stage of acceptance. It might also lead to unhealthy attachment with the AI version, make it difficult for a person to let go. It's important that one uses the technology to heal, but also grounds themselves in the reality of the loss."
Most of us know the power of AI to completely revolutise our lives, but who would have thought someone would have thought of harnessing the potential of AI to cope with the loss of a loved one? "My first reaction to this whole thing was akin to disbelief. I lost my mother during Covid-19 pandemic and only I know how I continue to cope with the grief of losing her. It's painfully hard to deal with the void and I don't think an AI version of my mom would help me in any which way. It's great if it helps people out there, but I still feel that it's best to come to terms with the reality. It obviously takes one longer to accept that life would never be the same without a parent. But for long can one really escape the truth?," shares Shradha, a 29-year-old working professional who lost one of her parents to Covid-19 pandemic.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know.