When the partner of Canadian Joshua dies, he turns to artificial intelligence “Project December“ in his grief. He trains the chat-bot to answer like her using messages from his dead girlfriend. The surprisingly precise results gives Jason Rohrer, the developer of “Project December“ an idea. Chatting with the dead becomes a service, currently for 10 dollars. Joshua’s story and the “Jessica Simulation“ is reported on worldwide. In the documentary ETERNAL YOU, she is the entry point to a world of the virtual undead. The examples are both fascinating and frightening. Chat-bots, voice-bots with voice simulations, interactive avatars that work with simulated neural networks, a Korean virtual reality TV where a mother meets her dead child. The director duo Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck have already published an essay about the topic, the documentary follows the essay’s common thread. Between interviews and recordings, clips of a speech by Sam Altman – CEO of Open AI (Chat-GPT) – float like an omen. Altman talks about the big responsibility that is tied to the development of new technology. In the Wild West of the AI branch, a lot of money is made. That is also the crux for critics like the MIT professor Sherry Turkle. Unsubscribing would be like your loved one dying for a second time. Project December also gets complaints because of the unpredictability of AI. Instead of being magical it becomes creepy. Like with the user BabyGirl, who chats with a simulation of her dead partner. BabyGirl asks where he is. In a dark, lonely place, responds the AI. BabyGirl asks if it’s heaven. No, it’s hell, is the answer.

Clarissa Lempp

Translation: Elinor Lewy