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   Meta could make social media posting immortal - and we should all cancel our   
   Facebook accounts right now   
      
   Opinion By Lance Ulanoff published 22 hours ago   
      
   When it comes to AI, death may be nothing more than a construct   
      
   The question of whether we'll be uploading our consciousness to a computer is   
   no longer if. It's probably when. That's because these digital consciousnesses   
   - our essences - will likely be the product of an AI's interpretation of   
   ourselves. The breadcrumbs we'll leave across digital files, images, videos,   
   audio recordings, and, of course, all that social media will be an ample   
   resource to reconstruct you.   
      
   The idea is not new, but in recent months it's gathered fresh steam as   
   companies like Meta look at ways to formalize the process. According to   
   Business Insider (as spotted by Dexerto), Meta is trying to patent a process   
   for using a large language model (LLM) to recreate a persona on social media   
   after the person has died.   
      
   Currently, Meta lets you "memorialize" a deceased relative's account,   
   essentially cryo-freezing the account and all its posts in perpetuity. I   
   support this process, since I think it's quite similar to the dusty photo album   
   you have on the shelf that features photos of Gramma, Grandpa, and other   
   long-lost relatives, all frozen in time at the beach, on a walk, playing with   
   their grandkids, and generally living their lives.   
      
   The new plan, though, could be something different. Imagine this version of the   
   account as a personalized AI agent, capable of posting, responding, reacting,   
   chatting, and commenting in ways that mimic how a living Facebook member would.   
      
   Instead of imagining Grandma at home on her comfy couch, peering over bifocals   
   as she carefully pecks out a response to the artwork her grandchild just posted   
   on Instagram, think of a server with a process that notices a post in the now   
   deceased grandma's network feed. It doesn't post right away because Grandma   
   never did. Instead, it waits an average of one to several weeks (Grandma used   
   to like posts from as far back as a year) and then adds her signature heart and   
   cake emojis (no one ever figured out why Grandma kept posting cake emojis).   
      
   That post might give you a fleeting warm feeling before you remember Grandma's   
   been gone for a year.   
      
   A patent but not a plan   
      
   Meta isn't, the report notes, implementing this patent. In fact, there's no   
   direct evidence they'll ever do it, aside from the fact that Meta might invest   
   $140B in AI this year alone, and the company, like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google,   
   and Anthropic, is in a fast-paced, intense AI race. Leaving this capability on   
   the table, when others might race to implement it, seems like a strategic   
   mistake, and one I'm not sure Meta is willing to make.   
      
   Even if Meta chooses to steer clear, nothing will stop AI's progress in this   
   realm. AI Time promises that AI's replicant capabilities today will be nothing   
   compared to what we see in a few months.   
      
   Today's AI is already proving quite adept at recreating voices, images, and   
   videos of living and dead people. Just this month, ByteDance's Seedance   
   achieved new, disturbing levels of vermiseltude.   
      
   Death is just a state of an AI mind   
      
   On the other side of all these stunning AI advancements is humanity's own   
   obsession with mortality. Death remains a taboo subject, largely because no one   
   knows what comes after, and, for the living, the loss and absence of loved ones   
   is an immutable pain.   
      
   It's probably why there are so many books about death, dying, and the   
   afterlife. There's also a long, still-growing list of sci-fi movies and TV   
   shows about eternal life, including Self/Less, Transcendence, and Upload.   
      
   In 2014's rather prescient Transcendence, Johnny Depp is a scientist who is   
   fatally wounded and has his consciousness uploaded to an AI by a desperate   
   lover (and fellow scientist). As you might expect, things go awry: Depp's AI   
   consciousness grows too powerful and eventually leads to the destruction of all   
   technology.   
      
       People know that none of these AIs are real and that the love and   
   compassion are, well, artificial. But like an artificial sweetener, it still   
   makes you feel the same way.   
      
   I don't think we're headed down that path (at least not yet), but I'm now   
   convinced that, while the idea of extending life through a digital simulacrum   
   sounds distasteful today, it may be de rigueur in the not-too-distant future.   
      
   The desire to reconnect with lost loved ones is, I'd argue, stronger than our   
   need to keep AI at bay. Even knowing that the entity on the other side of the   
   conversation is nothing more than a highly complex set of 1's and 0's won't   
   matter. If the AI can recreate the nuance, the mannerisms, vocal tics, and   
   virtual empathy of their lost loved one, that will be enough for some people.   
      
   Is it escapable?   
      
   We've already made our first timid steps into this space, connecting with AI   
   therapists and falling for AI partners. These people know that none of these   
   AIs are real and that the love and compassion are, well, artificial. But like   
   an artificial sweetener, it still makes you feel the same way.   
      
   Connecting with AI versions of deceased relatives will feel no different. And,   
   while deleting Facebook might help, trying to avoid it by deleting all social   
   media is probably a Quixotic effort. We've already filled the system with our   
   lives. They know us, and you can't scrub that training. What's more, AI has so   
   infiltrated society that they no longer need social media posts to learn who we   
   are, what we do, and how we act. AI's myriad and growing touchpoints across   
   society mean they have ample opportunity to learn the ins and outs of you.   
      
   And when it's your time, they will have an AI version of you at the ready,   
   whether or not anyone wants to talk to it.   
      
      
   https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/meta-could-make-social-media-   
   posting-immortal-and-we-should-all-cancel-our-facebook-accounts-right-now   
      
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