Has Meta Missed an Opportunity?
May 8, 2026
A story out of China sounds like something from a movie. My thought is that this use of AI could become a feature of a Facebook-type of online service. If not a social media outfit, I suppose it could become a feature of a Microsoft-type of AI service in Teams. Live Mint shares the allegedly true and verifiable story about an octogenarian woman whose son died in a automobile accident. The title of this tale is “‘I Miss You’: Mother Speaks To AI Son Regularly, Unaware He Died Last Year; Artificial Intelligence Creates Digital Twin.”
The elderly person suffers from heart disease. Her family worried that the death of her son would worsen her condition. The sensitive Chinese family asked an AI wizard (Zhang Zewei), who leads an AI team, to revivify her son using smart software and digital technology. The Live Mint article asserts:
“Using photos, videos and voice recordings, the team built a highly-realistic digital twin of the deceased man. The AI version not only looks like him but also copies his speaking style and small habits. It even leans forward while talking, just like he used to. This virtual “son” now speaks regularly with the elderly mother via video calls. Their conversations appear natural and emotional.”
The grieving mother interacts with her facsimile child the same she did with her flesh-and-blood progeny. The AI son explains he will return home once he’s made enough money in another city.?The scenario is a “gentle lie” to assist an elderly woman with loneliness and emotional pain.? Zhang, the AI wizard, has been doing the recreations as a “service” for several years. His view is that he is “deceiving people’s emotions” for a good cause.
Bringing the dead back to life is likely to spark some interesting coffee shop discussions. What if the mother realizes her son in digital form is a better version of her original son? What if the digital construct hallucinates and goes rogue? Assuming the Live Mint story is actual factual, the capability may be easy to monetize and deploy. The modern world is a surprising one.
Whitney Grace, May 8, 2026
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