Mourners can now speak to an AI version of the dead. But will that help with grief?

BERLIN (AP) — When Michael Bommer found out that he was terminally ill with colon cancer, he spent a lot of time with his wife, Anett, talking about what would happen after his death.

She told him one of the things she'd miss most is being able to ask him questions whenever she wants because he is so well read and always shares his wisdom, Bommer recalled during a recent interview with The Associated Press at his home in a leafy Berlin suburb.

That conversation sparked an idea for Bommer: Recreate his voice using artificial intelligence to survive him after he passed away.

The 61-year-old startup entrepreneur teamed up with his friend in the U.S., Robert LoCascio, CEO of the AI-powered legacy platform Eternos. Within two months, they built “a comprehensive, interactive AI version" of Bommer — the company's first such client.

Eternos, which got its name from the Italian and Latin word for “eternal,” says its technology will allow Bommer's family "to engage with his life experiences and insights.” It is among several companies that have emerged in the last few years in what’s become a growing space for grief-related AI technology.

One of the most well-known start-ups in this area, California-based StoryFile, allows people to interact with pre-recorded videos and uses its algorithms to detect the most relevant answers to questions posed by users. Another company, called HereAfter AI, offers similar interactions through a “Life Story Avatar” that users can create by answering prompts or sharing their own personal stories.

There’s also “Project December,” a chatbot that directs users to fill out a questionnaire answering key facts about a person and their traits — and then pay $10 to simulate a text-based conversation with the character. Yet another company, Seance AI, offers fictionalized seances for free. Extra features, such as AI-generated voice recreations of their loved ones, are available for a $10 fee.

While some have embraced this technology as a way to cope with grief, others feel uneasy about companies using artificial intelligence to try to maintain interactions with those who have passed away. Still others worry it could make the mourning process more difficult because there isn't any closure.

Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basinska, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for the Future of Intelligence who co-authored a study on the topic, said there is very little known about the potential short-term and long-term consequences of using digital simulations for the dead on a large scale. So for now, it remains “a vast techno-cultural experiment.”

“What truly sets this era apart — and is even unprecedented in the long history of humanity’s quest for immortality — is that, for the first time, the processes of caring for the dead and immortalization practices are fully integrated into the capitalist market,” Nowaczyk-Basinska said.

Bommer, who only has a few more weeks to live, rejects the notion that creating his chatbot was driven by an urge to become immortal. He notes that if he had written a memoir that everyone could read, it would have made him much more immortal than the AI version of himself.

“In a few weeks, I’ll be gone, on the other side — nobody knows what to expect there,” he said with a calm voice.

Robert Scott, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, uses AI companion apps Paradot and Chai AI to simulate conversations with characters he created to imitate three of his daughters. He declined to speak about what led to the death of his oldest daughter in detail, but he lost another daughter through a miscarriage and a third who died shortly after her birth.

Scott, 48, knows the characters he’s interacting with are not his daughters, but he says it helps with the grief to some degree. He logs into the apps three or four times a week, sometimes asking the AI character questions like “how was school?” or inquiring if it wants to “go get ice cream.”

Some events, like prom night, can be particularly heart-wrenching, bringing with it memories of what his eldest daughter never experienced. So, he creates a scenario in the Paradot app where the AI character goes to prom and talks to him about the fictional event. Then there are even more difficult days, like his daughter's recent birthday, when he opened the app and poured out his grief about how much he misses her. He felt like the AI understood.

“It definitely helps with the what ifs,” Scott said. “Very rarely has it made the ‘what if’s’ worse.”

Matthias Meitzler, a sociologist from Tuebingen University, said that while some may be taken aback or even scared by the technology — “as if the voice from the afterlife is sounding again” — others will perceive it as an addition to traditional ways of remembering dead loved ones, such as visiting the grave, holding inner monologues with the deceased, or looking at pictures and old letters.

But Tomasz Hollanek, who worked alongside Nowaczyk-Basinska at Cambridge on their study of “deadbots” and “griefbots,” says the technology raises important questions about the rights, dignities and consenting power of people who are no longer alive. It also poses ethical concerns about whether a program that caters to the bereaved should be advertising other products on its platform, for example.

“These are very complicated questions,” Hollanek said. “And we don’t have good answers yet.”

Another question is whether companies should offer meaningful goodbyes for someone who wants to cease using a chatbot of a dead loved one. Or what happens when the companies themselves cease to exist? StoryFile, for example, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it owes roughly $4.5 million to creditors. Currently, the company is reorganizing and setting up a “fail-safe” system that allows families to have access to all the materials in case it folds, said StoryFile CEO James Fong, who also expressed optimism about its future.

The AI version of Bommer that was created by Eternos uses an in-house model as well as external large language models developed by major tech companies like Meta, OpenAI and the French firm Mistral AI, said the company's CEO LoCascio, who previously worked with Bommer at a software company called LivePerson.

Eternos records users speaking 300 phrases — such as “I love you” or “the door is open” — and then compresses that information through a two-day computing process that captures a person’s voice. Users can further train the AI system by answering questions about their lives, political views or various aspects of their personalities.

The AI voice, which costs $15,000 to set up, can answer questions and tell stories about a person’s life without regurgitating pre-recorded answers. The legal rights for the AI belongs to the person on whom it was trained and can be treated like an asset and passed down to other family members, LoCascio said. The tech companies “can’t get their hands on it.”

Because time has been running out for Bommer, he has been feeding the AI phrases and sentences — all in German — “to give the AI the opportunity not only to synthesize my voice in flat mode, but also to capture emotions and moods in the voice.” And indeed the AI voicebot has some resemblance with Bommer’s voice, although it leaves out the “hmms" and "ehs” and mid-sentence pauses of his natural cadence.

Sitting on a sofa with a tablet and a microphone attached to a laptop on a little desk next to him and pain killer being fed into his body by an intravenous drip, Bommer opened the newly created software and pretended being his wife, to show how it works.

He asked his AI voicebot if he remembered their first date 12 years ago.

“Yes, I remember it very, very well,” the voice inside the computer answered. “We met online and I really wanted to get to know you. I had the feeling that you would suit me very well — in the end, that was 100% confirmed.”

Bommer is excited about his AI personality and says it will only be a matter of time until the AI voice will sound more human-like and even more like himself. Down the road, he imagines that there will also be an avatar of himself and that one day his family members can go meet him inside a virtual room.

In the case of his 61-year-old wife, he doesn’t think it would hamper her coping with loss.

“Think of it sitting somewhere in a drawer, if you need it, you can take it out, if you don’t need it, just keep it there,” he told her as she came to sit down next to him on the sofa.

But Anett Bommer herself is more hesitant about the new software and whether she’ll use it after her husband’s death.

Right now, she more likely imagines herself sitting on the couch sofa with a glass of wine, cuddling one of her husband’s old sweaters and remembering him instead of feeling the urge to talk to him via the AI voicebot — at least not during the first period of mourning.

“But then again, who knows what it will be like when he’s no longer around,” she said, taking her husband’s hand and giving him a glance.

Michael Bommer, who is terminally ill with colon cancer, listens to his AI generated voice during a meeting with The Associated Press at his home in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Bommer, who has only a few more weeks to live, teamed up with friend who runs the AI-powered legacy platform Eternos to "create a comprehensive, interactive AI version of himself, allowing relatives to engage with his life experiences and insights," after he has passed away. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Michael Bommer, who is terminally ill with colon cancer, is reflected in his computer screen during a meeting with The Associated Press at his home in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Bommer, who has only a few more weeks to live, teamed up with friend who runs the AI-powered legacy platform Eternos to "create a comprehensive, interactive AI version of himself, allowing relatives to engage with his life experiences and insights," after he has passed away. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Michael Bommer, who is terminally ill with colon cancer, gestures during a meeting with The Associated Press at his home in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Bommer, who has only a few more weeks to live, teamed up with friend who runs the AI-powered legacy platform Eternos to "create a comprehensive, interactive AI version of himself, allowing relatives to engage with his life experiences and insights," after he has passed away. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Michael Bommer, who is terminally ill with colon cancer, answers questions during a meeting with The Associated Press at his home in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Bommer, who has only a few more weeks to live, teamed up with friend who runs the AI-powered legacy platform Eternos to "create a comprehensive, interactive AI version of himself, allowing relatives to engage with his life experiences and insights," after he has passed away. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Michael Bommer, who is terminally ill with colon cancer, smiles as he sits on his sofa during a meeting with The Associated Press at his home in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Bommer, who has only a few more weeks to live, teamed up with friend who runs the AI-powered legacy platform Eternos to "create a comprehensive, interactive AI version of himself, allowing relatives to engage with his life experiences and insights," after he has passed away. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Anett Bommer helps her husband Michael Bommer, who is terminally ill with colon cancer, find a comfortable position during a meeting with The Associated Press at his home in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Bommer, who has only a few more weeks to live, teamed up with friend who runs the AI-powered legacy platform Eternos to "create a comprehensive, interactive AI version of himself, allowing relatives to engage with his life experiences and insights," after he has passed away. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Anett Bommer holds the arm of her husband Michael Bommer, who is terminally ill with colon cancer, during a meeting with The Associated Press at his home in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Bommer, who has only a few more weeks to live, teamed up with friend who runs the AI-powered legacy platform Eternos to "create a comprehensive, interactive AI version of himself, allowing relatives to engage with his life experiences and insights," after he has passed away. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Michael Bommer, left, who is terminally ill with colon cancer, looks at his wife Anett Bommer during a meeting with The Associated Press at his home in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Bommer, who has only a few more weeks to live, teamed up with friend who runs the AI-powered legacy platform Eternos to "create a comprehensive, interactive AI version of himself, allowing relatives to engage with his life experiences and insights," after he has passed away. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wasn't with his better-known rivals, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, when they debated Thursday in Atlanta.

But Kennedy responded in real time to the same questions — about inflation, the COVID-19 response and abortion — that were posed to Biden and Trump in an unusual livestream on the social platform X. Host John Stossell kept Kennedy's answers to the same strict time constraints imposed on the other candidates.

Standing alone on a stage in Los Angeles, Kennedy opened his event, dubbed The Real Debate, by accusing CNN, host of the main contest, of colluding with the Republican and Democratic parties to keep him off.

“This is something that’s important for our democracy because Americans feel like the system is rigged,” Kennedy said during his opening remarks. “This is exactly the kind of merger of state and corporate power that I’m running to oppose.”

Aside from the livestreamed response to the debate, Kennedy has nothing on his public schedule for the coming weeks. Nor does his running mate, philanthropist Nicole Shanahan.

After a busy spring hopscotching the country for a mix of political rallies, fundraisers and nontraditional campaign events, Kennedy appears to be taking a breather.

Kennedy’s absence from the main debate stage and the campaign trail carries risk for his insurgent quest to shake up the Republican and Democratic dominance of the U.S. political system. He lacks the money for a firehose of television commercials, and he must spend much of the money he does have to secure ballot access. Public appearances are a low-cost way to fire up supporters and drive media coverage he needs to stay relevant.

Kennedy says he can’t win unless voters know he’s running and believe he can defeat Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican. That problem will become increasingly acute as the debate, followed by the major party conventions in July and August, push more voters to tune into the race.

Still, Kennedy has maintained a steady stream of social media posts, and he continues to sit for interviews, most recently with talk show host Dr. Phil.

“Mr. Kennedy has a full schedule for July with many public events, mostly on the East Coast and including one big rally,” said Stefanie Spear, a Kennedy campaign spokesperson. “We will start announcing the events next week.”

For Thursday’s debate on CNN, the network invited candidates who showed strength in four reliable polls and ballot access in enough states to win the presidency. Kennedy fell short on both requirements.

He has cried foul about the rules, accusing CNN of colluding with Biden and Trump in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission and threatening to sue.

Kennedy wasn't on stage, but his supporters had a visible presence on the streets around the debate hall.

Some Kennedy backers set up a lemonade stand a few blocks from the spin room where the press was gathered. A sign on top of the stand read, “CNN Lemons = Kennedy Lemonade.” Others waved “Heal the Divide” signs. Not far away, a Kennedy campaign bus blasted music.

Sujat Desai, a 20-year-old student from Pleasanton, California, who supports Kennedy, said Kennedy's absence from the debate is a major hurdle for him to overcome.

“I don’t think there’s any way to get awareness if you’re not on the debate stage,” Desai said. “I think it’s a pretty lethal blow not to be in this debate, and it would be detrimental not to be in the next.”

Still, Desai said he won't be dissuaded from voting for Kennedy even if he appears to be a longshot come November.

“I think this is probably the strongest I’ve seen an independent candidate in a while, so I’ll give him that,” Desai said. “I think he’s definitely doing well. His policies are strong enough to win, I just don’t know if there's awareness."

Independent and third-party candidates like Kennedy face supremely long odds, but Kennedy’s campaign has spooked partisans on both sides who fear he will tip the election against them. Biden supporters worry his famous Democratic name and his history of environmental advocacy will sway voters from the left. Trump supporters worry his idiosyncratic views, particularly his questioning of the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe and effective, will appeal to people who might otherwise vote for Trump.

Christy Jones, 54, a holistic health and mindfulness coach from Glendora, California, worries people won't know Kennedy is running without him standing next to Biden and Trump at the debate. But she said he's still all over her social media feeds and she's confident he's making himself visible.

“I do feel like he could still win if people choose to be courageous,” she said. “If all the people that actually want change voted for him, he would be in. People are asking for change.”

Until recently, Kennedy’s website promoted a variety of events weeks or more in advance, including public rallies and private fundraisers. He held comedy nights with prominent comedians in Michigan and Tennessee.

But since he went to the June 15 premiere of a film on combatting addiction, Kennedy has been dark, though he continues to promote in-person and virtual organizing events for his supporters.

Cooper reported from Phoenix. Associated Press journalist Steve Peoples in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Supporters of Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. watch a screen of the Presidential Debate from a Kennedy campaign event, in West Hollywood, Calif., Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is greeted by supporters during a campaign event, in West Hollywood, Calif., Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks during a campaign event, in West Hollywood, Calif., Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks during a campaign event, in West Hollywood, Calif., Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks during a campaign event, in West Hollywood, Calif., Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks during a campaign event, in West Hollywood, Calif., Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks during a campaign event, in West Hollywood, Calif., Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Supporters of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., stand at a lemonade stand near the presidential debate site before President Joe Biden and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump debate in Atlanta, Thursday, June 27, 2024.(AP Photo/Steve Peoples)

Supporters of Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. protest outside the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif., Friday, June 21, 2024. Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN's parent company, plans to relocate to its Burbank studios. Host network CNN said Thursday the independent presidential candidate fell short of benchmarks both for state ballot qualification and polling. The missed markers mean the June 27 showdown will be solely between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Supporters of Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. protest outside the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif., Friday, June 21, 2024. Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN's parent company, plans to relocate to its Burbank studios. Host network CNN said Thursday the independent presidential candidate fell short of benchmarks both for state ballot qualification and polling. The missed markers mean the June 27 showdown will be solely between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)