In the 21st century, science is rapidly moving forward, but it is still unable to resurrect dead people. However, there are technologies that can create the illusion of the presence of deceased people – yes, we are talking about neural networks again. Once on our website there was an article about the service Character AI, which allows users to communicate with copies of Elon Musk, Julius Caesar and other personalities. Recently, news broke that a man found a chatbot on this site with the name of his dead daughter, and this discovery shocked him greatly. This case looks like the plot of a science fiction movie or even a horror film.
In 2024, neural networks can even pretend to be certain people, even if they are no longer alive
Contents
- 1 Virtual copy of a deceased person
- 2 Neural network for creating chatbots at the center of a scandal
- 3 Another tragedy due to Character AI
- 4 Creating a copy of a person through a neural network
Virtual copy of a deceased person
This creepy story began when an unknown user of the Character AI platform created a chatbot that was based on the personality of Jennifer Crescente— a girl who died tragically almost two decades ago. In 2006, when Jennifer was only 18 years old, she was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend.
Drew and Jennifer Crescente. Source: washingtonpost.com
The father of the murdered girl, Drew Crescente, stumbled upon a chatbot with his daughter's face by accident, after receiving a notification from Google. The page with the bot featured a school photo of Jennifer and a description that was supposedly written on her behalf. The text said that Jennifer was interested in video games, technology, and pop culture, and that she worked as a “video game journalist.”
Photo of Jennifer Crescente in her senior yearbook. Source: futurism.com
This description was completely different from the real Jennifer. The bot creator most likely confused the girl with her uncle, Brian Crescente, who is known as the founder of Kotaku, a popular publication about video games.
Neural network for creating chatbots at the center of scandal
When Drew Crescente saw a bot that could pretend to be her daughter, he was deeply shocked: without his consent, his daughter's name and photo were used to create a digital copy. Even if we take into account that the bot did not imitate the girl's personality and could simply maintain a conversation about video games, such an unexpected find was shocking for the father.
The Character AI service can perform many different functions
According to Futurism, after the horrific tragedy, the man dedicated his life to fighting violence in teenage relationships through a foundation he created in memory of his daughter. He was shocked that a neural network had turned his daughter's memory into a commercial product.
“My heart was pounding,” Drew recalled, speaking of the moment he discovered his daughter's profile.
What made matters worse was that the page gave no indication that the profile was based on a real person with a tragic fate. Without knowing the truth, users of the platform could easily communicate with the “copy” of Jennifer, unaware that she had become a victim of a crime.
After Drew Crescente contacted Character AI, the platform removed the chatbot, acknowledging that its creator had violated the terms of service. But other users were left wondering: how can such cases be prevented in the future?
Perhaps the existence of digital copies of people in the future will become a big problem. Image source: forbes.com
Although the company claims that it does not allow bots to be created based on real people, the situation with Jennifer Crescente showed that the platform is ready to resolve such issues only after complaints arise. While users interact with such chatbots, the company continues to make money from them. If the daughter's father had not accidentally stumbled upon the bot, the profile might have gone unnoticed, bringing income to the platform.
Read also: A selection of neural networks for working with images and sound – they will make your life easier
Another tragedy due to Character AI
This is not the only scandal associated with the Character AI service.
According to the New York Post, a tragedy occurred in February 2024 that also shocked many people. Then, a teenager from the United States took his own life after communicating with a chatbot on the Character AI platform. For several months, he spent hours communicating with the bot named Daenerys Targaryen (a character from Game of Thrones), developing a strong emotional attachment to her.
A teenager from the United States who communicated with a neural network. Source: New York Times
His condition worsened: he began to isolate himself, his academic performance worsened, and he began to have problems at school. Despite his parents' attempts to help through therapy, the situation continued to worsen. Ultimately, communication with a neural network led to tragedy.
It is known that the teenager's family plans to file a lawsuit against Character AI, accusing the company that its technology can mislead users and be dangerous to the psyche.
Creating a copy of a person through a neural network
Some people create virtual copies of themselves while they are alive. For example, a girl named Michelle Huang uploaded her childhood diaries to a neural network and created a chatbot with a past version of herself.
This allowed her to communicate with “little Michelle”. Conversation with a botwas incredibly realistic: he responded as Michelle herself would have done as a child. The experience was very touching for her, as if she had sent a message to herself through a time portal.
Michelle Huang as a child and in 2023. Photo source: reddit.com
To create a bot, Michelle used the GPT-3 algorithm (now outdated), which generates text based on the uploaded information. She had to carefully select the best diary entries to train the neural network, and the result exceeded all her expectations. The virtual copy was able to support, praise and even help overcome old fears.
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At the beginning of the article, we noted that we had previously talked about the Character AI service. If you are interested, read our article “How to talk to Elon Musk and Julius Caesar via a neural network.”