Bereaved South Koreans try AI-generated videos of deceased loved ones

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — When he wanted to give a gift to his father who sacrificed much to raise him as a single parent, Lee Geon Hui settled on an unusual idea: an AI-animated video message from his late grandfather, whom his father misses dearly.

Lee, 28, wrote a message and hired the Seoul-based tech company Vaice in December to make a short video clip showing a digital likeness of his grandfather delivering it. The virtual character called his father “my most precious son,” and apologized for making him help with farm work when he was a child and for opposing his son’s decision to become a hairstylist.

“My father said he wouldn’t watch the video. But then he did, and he shed tears. So I felt rewarded,” Lee, a 28-year-old office worker, said in a recent interview. “I wrote the script … as it was what I actually wanted to tell my father.”

A growing number of digitally-savvy South Koreans are experimenting with AI’s ability to produce video recreations of the dead: a number of startups offering videos featuring AI-produced recreations of loved ones, while TV shows have featured AI versions of dead pop stars and actors.

This emerging industry is causing both hopes and worries. Some say the practice can comfort grieving people, but others say it raises thorny ethical, psycholo...