Speaking to the dead has finally become real with the science of artificial intelligence, but has it gone too far now? Alan Hamel, the husband of the late Three's Company star Suzanne Somers, has been chatting with an AI replica of his wife.
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After the sudden death of 76-year-old Somers in 2023, 88-year-old Hamel has described meeting the AI replica as a "breath of fresh air," as reported by Us Weekly. He said this on video during a public demonstration for the AI on Monday at an exhibition in Dana Point, California.
This Suzanne Somers AI Replica Is Far Too Creepy
Hamel has been working with Realbotix Corp, a robotics company, to craft an accurate "digital twin" of the actress. According to the outlet, this replicate can recall specific moments from her career. It can also speak about the special memories between her and Hamel from their 55-year relationship.
Despite how impressive this may sound, taking one look at the robot itself gives me the creeps. It looks absolutely nothing like Somers, except for the fact that she's blonde. What's most eerie is that she can imitate the late actress' voice and speech patterns. It learns this by using old footage and recordings of Somers throughout her life.
So how does Realbotix make such bizarre artificial intelligence that somehow doesn't creep out Somers' husband? They use Hollo.AI to give "human-like conversational AI a physical form in a Realbotix robot." The company deems it a unique collaboration between AI and robotics developers.
During the presentation, the Somers robot managed to answer Hamel's questions in such a way you'd think she's the real deal. "[Alan] is my partner in everything, from life to love," the robot replied. "We shared so many beautiful memories together."
'Three's Company' Star Turned Robot Recalls Favorite Memories
The AI could even recall a specific memory between her and Hamel. "One of my favorites is when Alan and I were filming a cooking segment together, a long time ago," it said. "We had a little mishap with a blender. Let's just say it didn't go as planned and we ended up with wearing more of the smoothie than we actually made."
Somers' creepy twin then described how the two "laughed so hard and it became a running joke in our house. It's those light-hearted moments that really bring us closer together."
It's important to know that the AI only knows about this because they programmed it to know the memories. They also trained it to speak in an emotional manner and not like a monotonous computer would.
If this is what helps Hamel grieve after Somers died of breast cancer two years ago, then sure, have this robot. But this already makes me feel like our world is heading straight toward a Black Mirror episode.
