Hi-Phi Nation: The Digital Future of Grief

Slate Technology

Slate

Society & Culture, Technology, History

4.6 • 636 Ratings

🗓️ 11 April 2023

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Justin’s mom was diagnosed with cancer, he knew he wanted to keep talking to her after she died. So together they made an AI version of her, training it on her speech patterns and memories. Now he is scaling his findings so that anyone can continue their relationships with loved ones after their deaths. Justin even believes this can one day lead to digital immortality. Grief experts are only now dealing with bereaved people who create digital versions of their loved ones. We look at what they say about the phenomenon, and what philosophers think about whether the best AI version of a person can actually be them. Guests include Alexandra Salmon, Justin Harrison, CEO of You, Only Virtual, Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor, and Dr. Debra Bassett. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I made you think you was dream.
0:02.0	My name is Caden Sinclair.
0:04.0	Some people call us American royalty.
0:06.0	We were liars.
0:07.0	A new series on Prime Video.
0:09.0	We were happy. We wanted for nothing.
0:12.0	Based on the best-selling novel.
0:15.0	Something terrible happened last summer,
0:17.0	and I have no memory of what or who hurt me.
0:20.0	No one in my family will tell me. When
0:22.9	you're left for dead, you want answers. We Will Liars. New series, watch now, only on Prime Video.
0:31.6	A show where philosophy and reality meet. From slate.
0:39.9	Alexandra Salmon has been saving her mom's voicemails for years.
0:44.3	Hello, sweetheart.
0:46.2	Dad and I are out to eat, and he just went to the...
0:49.1	Alex, why have you been doing that?
0:50.9	There's just something about her voice that always makes me feel better.
0:55.5	I just thought I would call you and tell you how proud I am of you. It's almost like a portal
1:02.0	into our relationship. Think of your family and I love you very much. And then one day I
1:08.7	changed cell phone carriers and all of the voicemails disappeared.
1:15.2	I was devastated.
1:18.3	Did you try to get them back?
	...

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