Could chatbots bring the dead to life via your smartphone?

One day, artificial intelligence could make it possible to keep on chatting to the deceased. — AFP Relaxnews

Artificial intelligence could make it possible to keep on chatting with people from beyond the grave. That, in any case, is the challenge Microsoft appears to be setting itself from the look of a patent the firm filed at the end of 2020 with the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). The idea seems to involve developing a chatbot that lets people talk to someone who’s no longer around.

Based on the principle that the more artificial intelligence is fed, the more accurately it can meet our expectations, Microsoft has filed a patent for a chatbot capable of expressing itself in the manner of a specific person. This could theoretically pave the way for “chatting” virtually with someone who is no longer physically present, or someone who is no longer alive.