Two Regina tech students are concerned over the ethical implications of virtual life after death.

When James Vlahos’ father was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, he wanted a way to immortalize his father’s quirky anecdotes and touching stories.

Vlahos, a California local, created Dadbot, a virtual chat program with an artificial intelligence (AI) that mimics his father’s patterns of speech through text

“If even a hint of a digital afterlife is possible, then of course the person I want to make immortal is my father,” said Vlahos in a feature he wrote for Wired Magazine.

The bot replies to questions and comments using vocabulary common to the elder Vlahos. It tells stories of his past and memories about his life. 

Kurt Baui, a University of Regina Creative Technology student, said he does not like the idea.

“I just think, like, when a person passes, it’s their time to rest,” said Baui.

“I get it. Some people still want them, but it’s the cycle of life and death. You kind of just have to accept the fact. Commemorating is fine, but trying to have them, I guess, revived in a technological way seems unjust to me.”

Baui also noted the inability of robots to convey emotions is a large downfall to the project.

“Human emotion and how a person speaks to you is very different than what a bot does. I don’t care if it resembles that person, it’s still different because there’s always that connection between two humans, [rather than] between a robot and a human,” said Baui.

Vlahos’ father, John, was not against the idea but seemed confused by it, Vlahos said in an interview for CBC’s Tapestry.

“He said first off that he recognized the Dadbot as being him or as representing him … And he also said he appreciated that the Dadbot would be able to share his stories.”

Another Regina student, Osaid Fares, said he is wary of AI in general.

“When I initially heard about it, I felt like it was freaky, for lack of better words,” said Fares.

“I could see it being more popular in the future, just as a way to remember people. In the next 10 to 20 years, you know, it might be the next ‘looking at your family photo album’ or ‘rewatching old videos with your family’. Instead, you’re interacting with their memories.” 

When asked if he would personally use it to leave a legacy with his future children, Fares said he was unsure.

“It’s a tough question. I don’t know. I’m leaning towards no. Because I just think like, you get to experience me when I’m alive. And then that’s it. Like that’s the whole point of life, but I don’t know.”

By profession, Vlahos is a writer and journalist, but he gained experience in AI science after being fascinated by computer programming in his teen years.

Vlahos wrote the programming for the Dadbot based on 23 hours of interviews with his father. 

“In all, I have recorded 91,970 words,” wrote Vlahos. 

Since Dadbot’s creation in 2016, Vlahos has continued with his quest for postmortem conversational AI.

Vlahos co-founded HereAfter, a business that gives other people a chance to turn their stories into interactive content for their families to engage with after they pass.

It’s just like Dadbot except the programming is already done, and the conversation would be voice activated, not by text.