Well, I'm not so sure how I feel about this...
Microsoft is hoping to use artificial intelligence to create chat bots that mimic real, deceased people.
Microsoft has filed a patent for software “creating a conversational chat bot of a specific person” based on “images, voice data, social media posts, electronic messages, written letters,” and any other so-called “social data.” It wouldn’t be limited to deceased loved ones — you could also create a chat bot for a favorite fictional character, a living friend or celebrity, or even yourself.
… Since Microsoft has yet to create a prototype (that we know of), plenty of details are still up in the air; and the capabilities of each chat bot will likely depend on how much “social data” exists.
So if you could.... would you want to chat with your departed loved ones via a 'chat bot...' knowing that that 'bot' isn't exactly real? How does this make you feel?
Thoughts?
Photos/Images: Getty