AI, death and money: Grappling with our digital afterlife
[ad_1]
Artificial intelligence promises to make death "optional," as the technology learns to perfectly emulate our personalities, memories and dreams, keeping a version of ourselves alive long after our physical bodies have perished. But if rapidly improving AI achieves its lofty goal of digital immortality -- as its advocates believe it can -- will it be a force for good or for evil?"Eternal You" and "Love Machina," two new documentaries that premiered at the Sundance movie festival this weekend, grapple with the question, exploring AI's relationship to death from very different perspectives. One examines how predatory AI-powered startups are already profiting from the vulnerability of bereaved customers, cashing in on their desperation to "speak to" avatars of their deceased loved on...