Chinese man deepfakes late father to save grandma from grief
Losing a loved one can be difficult, and people have different ways of handling grief. That is why time is usually given to grieving friends and family to heal.
However, some may struggle to return to their daily routine.
READ: AI sparks ‘digital necromancy’ worries
That is what a Chinese man surnamed Sun feared would happen to his 91-year-old grandmother. He used deepfake technology to impersonate his deceased father and make the old woman think his child is still alive.
How did the deepfake work?
Grandson uses AI technology to imitate dead father, comfort frail grandmother https://t.co/VHJGmI34jS
— South China Morning Post (@SCMPNews) March 20, 2024
South China Morning Post reported that Sun used old photographs and face-swap software to impersonate his deceased father.
Sun is from the northeastern province of Liaoning, and his family had been hiding the truth that his dad died from a rare cancer six months ago.
Nowadays, artificial intelligence makes deepfakes more accessible to everyone. AI tools can help you replicate someone’s likeness and voice.
However, SCMP says the grandson only imitated his voice. Sun told his 91-year-old grandmother his dad couldn’t bring his smartphone into the hospital.
That excuse let him pretend he traveled to Beijing to record a video of him for her. “Mom, I’m fine in Beijing. They cannot cure this annoying disease, but it is under control,” Sun said in his deepfake video.
He sent the clip to his aunt to verify its quality before showing it to his grandma. Sun said the deepfake convinced her because she had poor eyesight and an “optimistic approach to life.”
Sun had to sort through his father’s photos, which he’d been avoiding since his passing. He took his dad to several hospitals across China and abroad and prayed at shrines.
Sun found it difficult to accept his father’s death, so the deepfake also helped him say goodbye. He shared his deepfake story on his Douyin account @Zaixiasancai, which gained five million views.
One netizen commented, “This is the best way to use deepfake technology.” Another said, “The grandma might know what happened better than anyone, but she just needed some comfort.”
What are the risks of ‘ghost’ deepfakes?
More people like Sun are using artificial intelligence and other technologies to make it seem like their deceased loved ones still live.
That is why Dr. Nigel Mulligan, a psychoanalysis professor at Dublin City University, commented on this growing phenomenon in The Conversation.
He refers to these digital recreations of dead loved ones as “AI ghosts” and warned it can interfere with the grief process.
He cited Sigmund Freud’s different stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Freud said a person may experience “melancholia” or “complicated grief” if a person has ambivalent or negative feelings towards someone who died.
For example, a person may struggle to accept the death of someone who was murdered. The doctor warned AI ghosts may “further traumatize someone experiencing complicated grief and may exacerbate associated problems such as hallucinations.”
READ: How to spot AI deepfake scams
Artificial intelligence programs are also prone to giving inappropriate remarks. For example, Microsoft’s Bing chatbot told journalist Kevin Roose in 2023 to leave his wife.
An AI impersonation of someone’s parent may leave lasting trauma if it tells a son or daughter that they weren’t his favorite.
Worse, an AI ghost may ask a grieving person to join them in the afterlife. Mulligan cited a man’s attempted assassination of Queen Elizabeth after his AI girlfriend told him to do so.
