Artificial Intelligence Is Already Being Used To Clone People
Developer Enias Cailliau cloned his girlfriend into an AI bot and has given everyone else the tools to do the same.
In news that should surprise none of our readers if you’ve been paying attention and following along with our coverage of artificial intelligence, another major step has been taken that would allow users to clone other humans. In a weird blend of Don’t Worry Darling and Her, Enias Cailliau, a developer, has managed to clone his real-life girlfriend into an AI bot that he lovingly refers to as GirlfriendGPT. And the good (terrifying) news for everyone else out there is that you can have a GirlfriendGPT of your own as, according to Vice, Cailliau has shared his code online for the masses to use.
Having long been interested in the world of artificial intelligence, Cailliau says that it was OpenAI’s Large Language Model that first led him down the road. After seeing that other developers were working on their own AI girlfriend projects, he couldn’t help himself and jumped in to test the waters on his own. And, while the news of his GirlfriendGPT may come as a shock to some, technology has long been moving in this direction.
Not only has artificial intelligence been able to pass law exams and been powerful enough to be deemed as a threat by scientists but earlier this month, Caryn Marjorie, known publicly for her Snapchat persona, turned herself into an AI girlfriend. Using her talents to make a buck, the bot took off and she quickly raked in $70,000 over the first week. This happened several more times with Twitch influencers and even an instance of a user’s wife getting an anime makeover.
So, how did Cailliau pull off this great feat of artificial intelligence? The first step was language, and for that, the developer used a model that would reflect his real-life girlfriend’s personality. Using Google’s chatbot Bard, he built his partner’s personality into the bot and then used the AI text-to-speech software, ElevenLabs, to make things even more real by copying his girlfriend’s voice. After using a text-to-image model called Stable Diffusion, he was able to bring up images of her during their time together and pulled all the strings together using Steamship.
Sure, a lot of us are sitting at home right now cringing at the thought of a partner using our likeness (or vice versa) to create an artificial intelligence clone but don’t worry – Cailliau says that his girlfriend was totally cool with the project, and was even interested in how her brainy beau would make the bot come to life. He says that his reason behind using his girlfriend as his starter model is because she’s the person that he’s closest with meaning that he knows her behavior and mannerisms the best. The one thing that both members of the couple believe the developer needs to work on is her voice as they agree that it doesn’t completely mirror Sacha’s.
The latest step forward in artificial intelligence, there’s no telling where we’ll go next with the ability to clone people now working for anyone who may want it. However, with great power comes great responsibility and in the wrong hands, this brand-new technology could prove to do more harm than good. Only time will tell.
