A New Company Is Using Artificial Intelligence For Immortal Life
Seance AI will let users talk to an artificial reproduction of their loved ones.
Artificial intelligence is no longer confined to enhancing business processes, predictive modeling, or customer service. It’s extending its reaches into more personal and intimate spheres of human experience, one such sphere being the ability to communicate with individuals in the afterlife. According to Futurism, Seance AI, built by a software development lab called AE Studio, harnesses the power of OpenAI‘s API to make this possible.
At the helm of Seance AI is designer Jarred Rocks, who envisioned a product that makes the impossible possible – conversations with the deceased. The term ‘seance’ typically refers to a meeting at which people attempt to make contact with the dead, and the name of this service was carefully selected to capture its mystical essence. “We’re trying to make it sound as magical and as mystical as possible,” Rocks told Futurism.
Rocks highlighted that the objective of Seance AI is not to maintain a permanent connection with the deceased but to offer users a channel for closure. The AI tool facilitates a brief exchange, allowing people to say the words left unsaid, seek solace, or feel the presence of a loved one momentarily. According to Rocks, it’s an especially poignant tool for those instances when a loved one has passed away unexpectedly, and there hasn’t been an opportunity for a proper farewell.
While the concept of Seance AI may sound eerie to some, it is essentially a compassionate application of artificial intelligence that attempts to ease the pain of loss. This service acknowledges that grieving is a deeply personal experience and offers a unique approach to healing and closure. Still, it’s important to recognize that the version of the loved one created by Seance AI is not a resurrection but an AI-driven representation.
Seance AI doesn’t source its conversations from the departed themselves, instead generating responses algorithmically based on provided data. The system strives to mimic, to the highest degree feasible, the deceased’s unique conversational tone and personality traits. In essence, it provides an AI-driven reflection of the departed based on the information it is given.
In a demonstration for Futurism, Rocks illustrated how Seance AI guides a user wanting to communicate with a departed individual. The user was asked to provide specific details about the deceased, including their name, age, and cause of death. Furthermore, the platform allowed the user to select and tailor personality traits that accurately reflected their loved one and to state the relationship between the user and the deceased, as well as between the deceased and others.
In the case of the individual at Futurism who trialed Seance AI, the service failed to deliver a significant sense of closure. Although designed to mimic a personal conversation, the artificial interaction fell short of fulfilling the emotional expectations often associated with a final exchange. The limited success of the experience highlights the challenge of replicating the depth and authenticity of human connection through an artificial intelligence interface.
Seance AI indeed presents a novel concept, but it may lead to a deeper sense of emptiness for some users as they grapple with the realization that the interaction is with a simulation rather than their actual departed loved one. Despite the potential for this poignant reminder of loss, it’s also possible that the service could offer solace to others seeking to navigate their grief. Ultimately, the value of Seance AI is highly subjective, depending on the individual’s emotional needs and their perception of the service’s capacity to provide a sense of comfort and closure.
