Enterprise Tech Would You Bring A Dead Loved One Back As An AI Robot? By Bernard Marr ,
Summary The development of ultra-realistic humanoid robots, such as UBTech's U1 Ultra, is rapidly progressing, enabling the replication of specific individuals' faces, voices, and behaviors, even deceased loved ones. While proponents highlight their potential for companionship, addressing issues like loneliness, this technology sparks profound ethical debates. Experts caution against "digital haunting" that could impede healthy grieving and infringe upon personal identity. The prospect of replicating individuals without consent, or using these embodied deepfakes for fraud and deception, poses significant societal risks. As these advanced robots transition from concept to reality, urgent ethical and regulatory frameworks are crucial before their widespread adoption.
Ultra-realistic humanoid robots could soon recreate the faces, voices and behavior of real people, including loved ones who have died. Adobe Stock Would you bring someone you love back from the dead as a robot?
It may sound like the premise of a particularly unsettling episode of Black Mirror , but the technology is moving closer to reality. Ultra-realistic humanoid robots are being developed with silicone skin, lifelike facial expressions, natural voices and simulated emotions.
Chinese robotics manufacturer UBTech is now taking the idea further. Its U1 Ultra can use 3D facial reconstruction and voice replication technology to recreate specific individuals. In other words, the robot could be programmed to look, speak and behave like a real person, potentially including someone who has died.
There are conceivable uses that might seem entertaining or harmless, such as interacting with a consenting celebrity or a recreation of a historical figure. Creating a robotic replica of a deceased loved one, or copying a living person without permission, takes us into far more troubling territory.
This technology could offer companionship and comfort, but it could also interfere with grief, violate personal identity and give deepfakes a physical body. These are questions society needs to confront before robotic replicas enter our homes, regardless of whether we feel ready for them.
UBTech believes “companion robots” are a solution to the loneliness epidemic currently facing China, where 90 million adults live alone and 118 million elderly people are distanced from their families and children.
This is a real social problem, with many facing mental health problems due to isolation and lack of human contact.
Its robots are trained to be emotionally responsive, meaning they can recognize human states of mind and respond accordingly. This year, it will give away 100 units to vulnerable people taking part in a pilot project assessing their ability to provide companionship, assistance and mental health support.
This will add to evidence already gathered from other research. For example, one carried out by Israeli manufacturer Intuition Robotics reported a 95 percent reduction in loneliness.
Of course, a companion robot built for friendly chatting and checking in on a human’s state of mind is very different to one built to replicate a specific person’s face, voice and personality.
Cambridge University's Leverhulme Center For The Future Of Intelligence has studied what it calls the “afterlife industry” and warns there’s a real danger of “ digital haunting ”, where chatbots trained to…