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This July 2014 file photo, shows the Microsoft Corp. logo outside the Microsoft Visitor Center in Redmond, Wash.
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Let the dead rest

AP photo / Ted S. Warren

Let the dead rest

Psychic mediums may be the next profession to be replaced by artificial intelligence.

Microsoft recently patented a software tool that could reincarnate people as chatbots. The software would analyze texts and social media posts and respond to messages in an approximation of a human being, allowing loved ones to “communicate with the departed” via technology.

Aside from the creepiness of the premise, the ethics of generating profit based on taking advantage of someone’s anguish are murky at best.

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Microsoft hasn’t announced plans to actually develop the tech yet, but anyone feeling chills at the idea is in good company. Grief counselors already have cautioned against creating the sort of AI that the patent indicates, worrying that individuals could become addicted to chatting with the tech rather than achieving actual closure and moving on with life.

There’s been some dabbling in this arena for its entertainment value. There are “touring” holograms of famous musicians like Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. These ventures in AI centering on the deceased are very different propositions than those that broach the therapeutic divide. The attempt to recreate someone’s personality is a bridge too far. This meddles with the highly delicate process of grief resolution, something better left to live professionals rather than emergent AI.

Some people say they find peace and comfort in the hands of mediums who purport to speak with the dead. One could argue that the practices are similar. It would be a specious argument. Even in a world of parlor tricks and smoke and mirrors, mediums typically purport to at least commune with an actual soul of some sort. This AI would be a mere facsimile of a human with nothing but an algorithm at its core.

At this time, it’s just a patent. Microsoft should keep it that way. This is a classic case of “just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should.” Or, to be precise, just because there might be a market for zombie chatbots, that doesn’t mean Microsoft should develop them.

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First Published: February 15, 2021, 11:15 a.m.

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This July 2014 file photo, shows the Microsoft Corp. logo outside the Microsoft Visitor Center in Redmond, Wash.  (AP photo / Ted S. Warren)
AP photo / Ted S. Warren
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