US develops AI app that creates digital avatars of deceased relatives
Kyiv • UNN
Los Angeles startup 2Wai has developed the mobile application HoloAvatar, which allows users to create interactive digital avatars of deceased relatives. The application, already available in the App Store, has sparked lively discussions about its ethics and impact on the grieving process.
The Los Angeles-based startup 2Wai has introduced a mobile application that allows users to create interactive digital avatars of deceased relatives. This was reported by Interesting Engineering, according to UNN.
Details
A promotional video, published by co-founder Callum Worthy, quickly went viral on the social network X, garnering over 28 million views.
The video shows a pregnant woman communicating on her smartphone with a digital reconstruction of her deceased mother. It then demonstrates the avatar reading a bedtime story to the infant, and later, talking to a school-aged child on the way home. The final scene shows the now-adult son informing the avatar that she will become a great-grandmother.
To create an AI avatar, the user needs to scan the person with a smartphone camera. After setup, one can communicate with it: HoloAvatar reproduces the person's voice, facial expressions, and gestures. An application with this name is already available in the App Store.
According to the developers, digital images "look and sound like you, and are also capable of conveying memories." Worthy called the platform "a living archive of humanity" and invited users to test the beta version.
An Android version is promised to be released soon.
The launch of the service sparked a lively debate. Some users called the technology "disturbing" and "unethical," comparing it to the "Be Right Back" episode of "Black Mirror," where the protagonist communicates with an AI copy of her deceased partner. Critics fear that such avatars could distort the grieving process.
Opponents emphasize the risk of substituting real emotions with artificial imitation and raise questions about the moral boundaries of such solutions. At the same time, some positively assessed the opportunity to preserve the voices and stories of loved ones.
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The discussion also touched upon broader topics of artificial intelligence development. Experts warn that with further progress in robotics, physical analogues of such avatars may appear, raising questions of identity, consent, and the commercial exploitation of the theme of loss.
For now, the application is actively gaining popularity, and the discussion about how it affects memory and the process of experiencing loss continues.