Grandma is dead. So how is it she is still talking to us?

Wuwuliu's grandmother died in January. Instead of honoring her in the traditional homage to ancestors during the recent Qingming Festival, he brought his beloved nana back to life.

Well, in a manner of speaking.

Wuwuliu, the screen name of an uploader on the video platform Bilibili, used artificial intelligence applications to create a digital version of his late grandmother.

She is a movable icon that can show simple expressions, such as blinking and opening her mouth. She can talk to people in her original voice and discuss mundane daily things: "I bought two bottles of fresh-pressed cooking oil, and it smelled great," the icon says. "I'm going to tell your father to drink less and stop gambling."

The reaction of netizens was mixed. Some found Wuwuliu's experiment heartwarming; others thought it creepy.

In a video, Wuwuliu explained how he created the digital figure. He said he fed several photos of his grandmother into the AI picture generator Midjourney. Then he downloaded his grandmother's verbal messages and used a synthesizer to simulate her voice and accent. And finally, he turned to the AI language bot ChatGPT to try to create conversations his grandmother might have.

After all that was done, he uploaded everything to the website D-ID, which allows users to use real-time face animation and advanced text-to-speech to create an immersive and human-like conversational AI experience.

The technology of "bringing back" decedents was created overseas and has existed for a while, even incorporated into commercial use.

Known as "digital immortality," it is a technology that uses artificial intelligence and machine-learning algorithms to simulate the personality, behavior and characteristics of a dead person. Wuwuliu generated a two-minute conversation with his digital grandmother on the website.

"The two-minute conversation didn't make me feel any better, actually," he said in his explanatory video. "She brought me up as a child, and we had very close relationship."

Wuwuliu said his grandmother was basically unconscious in her last days, so he was unable to talk to her before she died. AI technology somehow soothed his regrets.

Many people have regrets when a loved one passes away, but is bringing them back to life digitally the way to atone?

A netizen with the screen name "Ruoyiliuxing" commented on Wuwuliu's video:

"I can feel much the same as you. I lost my grandpa two years ago, and I couldn't get over his loss for half a year. I would like to create such a digital figure, but he didn't leave many photos or voice recordings."

Other online comments were more skeptical.

"If you truly understand the meaning of life, you would find such replicas meaningless," commended a netizen who goes by the screen name "Elephant at the City Wall."

Tian Shishi, who lost her father to cancer several years ago, said that she would feel uncomfortable making a digital replica of her father.

"The re-creation can never replace the person lost," she said. "A digital substitute cheapens the memories of cherished loved ones. I certainly wouldn't want to give pictures and other data of my father to a stranger to create a replica. What if they use the data on something else?"

Last year, at the funeral of Wu Mengchao, a medical expert in diseases of the liver, bile ducts and gallbladder, his digital twin asked questions of pupils attending the ceremony: "Have you any new findings on our subject?" "How is our new hospital in Anting doing? Is our third hospital busy? Is everyone there okay?"

Many of his students shed tears upon hearing his familiar voice.

Imaginechina

"Digital immortality" technology includes applications such as Replika and Soul Machines.

Replika, created in a Silicon Valley-based Russian company, is a personal chatbot that uses AI to simulate conversation with a deceased loved one. It was initially designed as a therapeutic tool for people coping with grief or loneliness.

Soul Machines, developed in New Zealand, features hyper-realistic virtual avatars that can serve as digital assistants or companions.

Ethical questions swirl around "digital immortality." Is it right to develop a digital resurrection without the consent of the deceased? Do descendants inherit the rights to personal data such as voices, accents and messages?

Beyond that, some fear the technology may lead people to become emotionally dependent on digital replicas, potentially hindering their ability to cope with the grief and loss associated with death.

Gu Jun, a sociologist who has long been studying artificial intelligence, told Shanghai Daily that if "digital immortality" becomes very developed and popular, problems could arise that aren't covered by present laws and regulations.

Citing one example, he said, "How do we deal with disputes that may be triggered by such digital figures?"

On a broader front, Gu said he believes that the ethics we value today may not suit the circumstances of the future.

"What modern people do today was prohibited 500 years ago," he said. "The standard of ethics changes all the time, usually with the development of technologies. And one day if 'digital mortality' prevails, it might not be regarded as unethical anymore."

Meanwhile, some psychologists said they view "digital mortality" as a double-edged sword. Every individual is a complex being of love, hate, tenderness, anger, stubbornness, rationality and anxiety. Should all traits be re-created in a digital resurrection, or just the traits we want to remember?

"If there was family discord when a person was alive, will that all be revived if a digital version is created?" psychological therapist Xu Peng asked Shanghai Daily. "It could bring back pain and anger as well as comfort and love."

However, Xu said he believes that "digital immortality" can exert more positive than negative effects in helping mend the empty hole in the heart caused by the death of loved ones.

"I once counseled a couple where the husband was a heavy drinker," he said. "During the therapy, I found that they lost their only daughter to depression when she was 25, and when she was alive, the couple had neglected her mental problems. I think that if they had a digital replica of their daughter, who could accept their apology, they might be able to eventually move on, rather than try to find solace in alcohol."