Grief Tech, Digital Coffin, Singularity, Upload Consciousness To Cloud?
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For years now we have been hearing about an impending singularity event where we humans can upload our consciousness into the cloud before we physically expire. And there is now a little thing called Grief Tech based on burgeoning Generative AI. MindBank, You Only Virtual and Hereafter are companies creating “digital twins” of people so that their loved ones can re-live experiences and continue to interact with them long after they have passed on.
Technologically, this would amount to a mere personalization of some Generative AI and adding in some voice tech for the particular voice of the individual … and maybe some other data to take on the digital likeness of the expiree to be. Does not seem like an onerous lift and maybe it will even be adopted by and work for some. However, there is a much larger picture to be considered here.
Wow! Digital coffins are kinda easy.
Would this help manage grief? I thought humans couldn’t do that or help others do that well. Oh, so this is like almost having the person who passed away still be there? Just how closely can the digital twin mimic the person who has passed? That would depend on just how much training it received. The efficiency of the personalization and ability to imitate the person who has passed on depends on the number of stories and data that are input into the digital twin for training. This would include any personal experiences and the formative influences (or baggage) of the person they might give the AI.
Wait … what if a person was “recorded” from their first words all the way to death? There is probably a good chance, the digital twin will mimic the real person to a T. Wait … isn’t this essentially uploading consciousness to the cloud … and … and … immortality?
Hmmm … a lifetime of big brother in exchange for immortality?! George Orwell did not quite imagine enough now did he.
Would that be tantamount to uploading most or all of one’s consciousness to the cloud? There is actually a show that imagines this in a comic manner called … “Upload”. It might be health issues and aging free … but could we feel anything in such immortality?
