Tuesday 16 August 2022 09:31 AM Dead woman talks to mourners at her own FUNERAL thanks to AI trends now
A deceased woman has been able to talk to mourners at her own funeral thanks to new AI-powered 'holographic' video technology.
Marina Smith MBE, who passed away in June at the age of 87, was able to appear as a hologram at a service shortly after her cremation in Babworth, Nottingham on July 29.
Mrs Smith, a Holocaust educator, gave a brief speech about her life and spirituality and responded to questions from family members attending the ceremony.
The technology, available in the UK from this week, was created by her son Dr Stephen Smith, co-founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based AI company StoryFile.
Dr Smith said the hologram 'shocked' mourners and answered questions with 'new details and honesty'.
Marina Smith MBE, who died in June aged 87, speaks to mourners at her funeral via artificial intelligence
One of the first users of the technology was Marina Smith MBE - the mother of StoryFile's CEO Dr Stephen Smith - who died in June aged 87. Pictured: A screengrab from Marina's StoryFile
Dr Smith told The Telegraph: 'Mum answered questions from grieving relatives after they had watched her cremation.
'The extraordinary thing was that she answered their questions with new details and honesty.
'People feel emboldened when recording their data. Mourners might get a freer, truer version of their lost loved one.'
StoryFile creates a digital clone of a subject by using 20 synchronised cameras to record them answering a series of questions.
Experts then process the footage, tagging clips and using it to train an AI that can provide responses to these questions in natural language.
The finished product is then uploaded to the StoryFile platform, which can be interacted with after the individual has passed away.
Those who attend their funeral are then able to speak with their loved one, as the technology creates the illusion of a real-time conversation.
Mrs Smith lived a life of philanthropy, helping people in need in underdeveloped areas of the UK and the world through volunteering and setting up a non-profit.
She purchased a derelict farm in Nottinghamshire in 1978, which she and her husband
