Microsoft has just registered a patent, which will allow the company to create a bot that simulates conversations from individuals who have died using images, voice data, social networking posts, electronic messages, and other personal data.
With that, it will be possible for the program to simulate a specific person, they can be a past or present representation of someone like “friend, relative, acquaintance, celebrity, fictional character, historical figure, random entity, etc.”, according to the patent description. The company also specified that a user can chat bot himself and train it to be their replacement, in case of death.
With this application, it would then be theoretically possible, to communicate using voice or text with a simulation of a loved one, or even, with a 2D or 3D model generated through images and videos of the individual in question.
If you think the idea is extremely similar to Black Mirror, it may have to do with the fact that “Be Right Back”, the first episode of the second season of the Charlie Brooker series, is about a woman in mourning (Hayley Atwell), who tries to overcome her loss by talking to a chat bot of the boyfriend who died.
However, it is important to highlight, the patent registration does not necessarily mean that the product is close to being developed, or even that it is going to be commercialized. We can’t say, yet, that the future foreseen in Black Mirror will really materialize, but it would be incredible.
