The planet is curious about the news of a man speaking with his long-dead girlfriend via an AI-driven web application. This was traditionally a concept from science fiction, a reflection of the Black Mirror. Well, hold on to your sucks because it looks like this is going to become reality. 

This is where we are required to reflect, is this the future? If this is the case, where does this AI/ML-driven reviving tech take us? Where does it put communication and service providers? And what role could the cloud prospectively hold? 

This notion of “bringing the dead to life” is not unprecedented 

Many of us are acquainted with the notion of being able to speak to our deceased loved ones. From the times of yore, human beings have made attempts to communicate with their family members and friends – people who are no longer on this plane of existence. Seances have been a part of our culture since the inception of time in some way, shape or form.  

So it isn’t really shocking that an increasing number of individuals are resorting to technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the cloud, for assistance is bringing their loved ones back to life – even for a day. 

How does this function? 

A lot like AI in any other sphere, the only difference here is that the technology gets to know about a human and their behaviour, rather than about IT systems. Having all the information we have currently, AI could prospectively learn all of our behaviours, responses and unique character features, and emulate them in conversation – and not just with regards to transmitting messages, but also leveraging our actual voice, or even “hijacking” our faces. 

And it all began with face filters. 

AR, VR, or reality? 

A lot of us are harnessing face filters, even when we are unaware of it. A few of us are just enhancing our photos a tad (the filters that are baked in to our phone cameras, regardless of whether we’re aware or not), others are including some special effects like full makeup, new hair colour, differing outfits, unusual backgrounds, etc. We are so acquainted with filters, that we are not even consciously aware of them anymore.  

We also do not realize that behind every filter is AI/ML-driven technology. This technology researches us, and could prospectively be leveraged to emulate our behaviour. 

What part does the cloud play in the mix? 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning activities couldn’t function on such a massive scale if it wasn’t for the cloud. Photos, videos, conversations, posts, everything we engage in on the internet, all this data is now documented in the cloud, and can be discovered in a matter of seconds, if required. 

This could lead us to the belief that we are in away, living within the cloud. Even when we might not exist on planet earth anymore.  

As fascinating and odd as it sounds, following the words of Yuval Noah Harari in “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow”, striving to live for as long a duration as feasible (or even achieve immortality) is a thing that human beings are eagerly attempting to accomplish. We’ve gotten this far owing to advancements in the state of modern medicine, so why not go one step further? 

The ideas of accomplishing the objective of “forever” are obviously really different, dependent on the sphere of expertise of those who are interested in immortality. For few people, the cloud is only another means to this end. Are they correct? 

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, the cloud, and the concept of life 

It appears that all the things we do and share, communicate on the internet already exists within the cloud. Does this instantaneously make us immortal beings? On some level, probably. A lot of people wish to be remembered long after they’re gone. We have a tendency to strive and yearn to do the amazing things that will ensure we are remembered by the generations to come. The cloud simplifies this. We will not be forgotten. Perhaps not for some wonderful invention that altered society as we are aware of it, however in some fashion the remembrance of us will live on.  

Additionally, our friends and family will be capable of speaking and communicating with us through AI/ML-driven solutions. New generations that we could have never met owing to our brief lifespan, could prospectively meet us, and get to know what their ancestors were like. 

But that’s pretty much the gist of it, for the time being. 

Even though there are specific groups that believe our consciousness could be uploaded to the cloud so that we as individuals achieve immortality (or at least for as long as the cloud functions), this is very improbable, as far as we know. 

Where do communication and digital service providers fit into the mix? 

Where does this leave communication and digital service providers? Will telecoms expand their businesses and undertake deployment of services that will facilitate us to talk to our deceased loved ones, or record their memory in some ways? Potentially. 

Keeping that in mind, operators will additionally require to consider the safety of the operation. With this remarkable opportunity, comes an even bigger responsibility. How to ensure that the data is safe? What can be carried out to prevent clients from getting tricked by impostors? 

Ethical and safety concerns are surely challenges that require to be encountered if we wish to grow the concept further. The only questions remains: do we really wish to?