"Mom, I miss you and happy birthday"... Deceased Daughter Revived by AI, Voice Exactly the Same

Ethical Concerns Considered but Ultimately Attempted
Digital Resurrection Gains Popularity in China and Beyond

Taiwanese famous musician Tino Bao (Bao Xiaobai) has attracted attention by using artificial intelligence (AI) to 'resurrect' the voice of his deceased daughter. His daughter passed away at the young age of 22. The Hong Kong media South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on the 13th (local time) that Tino Bao created a scene where the AI-reconstructed voice of his deceased daughter sings a birthday song to her grieving mother. The AI-generated daughter even says to her mother, "I miss you, Mom."

AI-generated image of daughter [Image source=Weibo]

Tino Bao trained AI with his daughter's photos and voice data to create the video. He revealed that he collaborated with an AI training company based in mainland China for this project. In an interview with local media, Bao recalled, "We had many photos of our daughter, so creating the images was easy, but replicating her voice was a very difficult task."

Although the voice was virtual and created by AI, Bao said he found comfort in hearing his daughter's words. Bao's daughter died in 2021 from a rare disease. Until her death, she endured a difficult two-year battle with the illness.

In the Chinese-speaking world, the practice of 'recreating' deceased individuals using AI is reportedly gaining popularity. There are companies specializing in this service. SCMP introduced an AI clone developer called 'Super Brain' as an example. This company has recreated deceased people using AI for 600 clients over the past seven months. It is reported that half of these clients are parents longing for children who died young.

A famous musician from Taiwan has attracted attention by resurrecting his deceased daughter using artificial intelligence (AI). [Image source=Weibo capture]

Tino Bao stated that recreating his daughter with AI also helped with family reconciliation. After his daughter's passing, he had almost no communication with his wife for nearly half a year, but after meeting their 'digital daughter,' his wife opened her heart.

However, Bao said he pondered the ethical issues involved in recreating virtual images of real people with AI. Nevertheless, he said, "In any case, I decided to bring my daughter back to life in the 'digital world.'"

'Digital resurrection' is being attempted both domestically and internationally. In 2022, KT restored the voice of the late singer Shin Hae-chul based on his past radio broadcasts and produced radio content. The American e-commerce giant Amazon also tried a service that recreates the voices of deceased family members through its AI assistant Alexa.