A new study from the University of Colorado Boulder confirms something that sounds both impressive and concerning. People find interacting with AI simulations of their dead loved ones deeply meaningful, and most will come away wanting to do it again.
The researchers call it a “generative ghost,” which is a clear reference to generative AI, but I’d still prefer to call it unsettling.
So what did the study actually find?
Doctoral candidate Jack Manning and associate professor Jed Brubaker recruited 16 participants aged 22 to 50, all of whom had lost someone close to them.
Each participant chatted with two versions of the generative ghost: one that spoke in first person (“I remember going to the beach together”) and one that used third person (“She loved going to the beach with you,” where you is the participant)…