World

Woman ‘chats’ to dead mother using AI – with ‘spooky’ results

Published

1 year ago

March 12, 2024

admin

After her mother’s death, Sirine Malas was desperate for an outlet for her grief.

“When you’re weak, you accept anything,” she says.

The actress was separated from her mother Najah after fleeing Syria, their home country, to move to Germany in 2015.

In Berlin, Sirine gave birth to her first child – a daughter called Ischtar – and she wanted more than anything for her mother to meet her. But before they had chance, tragedy struck.

Najah died unexpectedly from kidney failure in 2018 at the age of 82.

“She was a guiding force in my life,” Sirine says of her mother. “She taught me how to love myself.

“The whole thing was cruel because it happened suddenly.

“I really, really wanted her to meet my daughter and I wanted to have that last reunion.”

The grief was unbearable, says Sirine.

“You just want any outlet,” she adds. “For all those emotions… if you leave it there, it just starts killing you, it starts choking you.

“I wanted that last chance (to speak to her).”

After four years of struggling to process her loss, Sirine turned to Project December, an AI tool that claims to “simulate the dead”.

Users fill in a short online form with information about the person they’ve lost, including their age, relationship to the user and a quote from the person.

The responses are then fed into an AI chatbot powered by OpenAI’s GPT2, an early version of the large language model behind ChatGPT. This generates a profile based on the user’s memory of the deceased person.

Such models are typically trained on a vast array of books, articles and text from all over the internet to generate responses to questions in a manner similar to a word prediction tool. The responses are not based on factual accuracy.

At a cost of $10 (about £7.80), users can message the chatbot for about an hour.

For Sirine, the results of using the chatbot were “spooky”.

“There were moments that I felt were very real,” she says. “There were also moments where I thought anyone could have answered that this way.”

Imitating her mother, the messages from the chatbot referred to Sirine by her pet name – which she had included in the online form – asked if she was eating well, and told her that she was watching her.

“I am a bit of a spiritual person and I felt that this is a vehicle,” Sirine says.

“My mum could drop a few words in telling me that it’s really me or it’s just someone pretending to be me – I would be able to tell. And I think there were moments like that.”

Project December has more than 3,000 users, the majority of whom have used it to imitate a deceased loved one in conversation.

Jason Rohrer, the founder of the service, says users are typically people who have dealt with the sudden loss of a loved one.

“Most people who use Project December for this purpose have their final conversation with this dead loved one in a simulated way and then move on,” he says.

“I mean, there are very few customers who keep coming back and keep the person alive.”

He says there isn’t much evidence that people get “hooked” on the tool and struggle to let go.

However, there are concerns that such tools could interrupt the natural process of grieving.

Billie Dunlevy, a therapist accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, says: “The majority of grief therapy is about learning to come to terms with the absence – learning to recognise the new reality or the new normal… so this could interrupt that.”

? Listen above then tap here to follow the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts ?

In the aftermath of grief, some people retreat and become isolated, the therapist says.

She adds: “You get this vulnerability coupled with this potential power to sort of create this ghost version of a lost parent or a lost child or lost friends.

“And that could be really detrimental to people actually moving on through grief and getting better.”

There are currently no specific regulations governing the use of AI technology to imitate the dead.

The world’s first comprehensive legal framework on AI is passing through the final stages of the European parliament before it is passed into law, when it would enforce regulations based on the level of risk posed by different uses of AI.

The Project December chatbot gave Sirine some of the closure she needed, but she warned bereaved people to tread carefully.

“It’s very useful and it’s very revolutionary,” she says.

“I was very careful not to get too caught up with it.

“I can see people easily getting addicted to using it, getting disillusioned by it, wanting to believe it to the point where it can go bad.

“I wouldn’t recommend people getting too attached to something like that because it could be dangerous.”

World

Ten explosions near international airport in India-administered part of Kashmir, officials say

Published

3 hours ago

May 9, 2025

admin

Ten explosions have been heard near Srinagar International Airport in India-administered parts of Kashmir, officials have told Reuters news agency.

The blasts followed blackouts caused by multiple projectiles, which were seen in the sky above the city of Jammu earlier on Friday.

Explosions were also heard in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, in the neighbouring Punjab state, according to Reuters.

An Indian military official told the agency that “drones have been sighted” and “they are being engaged”.

It comes as tensions between India and Pakistan across the line of control around the region of Kashmir have boiled over this week, leading to fears of a wider conflict.

On Wednesday morning, India carried out missile strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered parts of the disputed region.

The retaliation came weeks after 26 people, mainly Indian tourists, were shot dead by gunmen in an India-administered part of Kashmir last month.

The government in India said it hit nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites, while Pakistan said it was not involved in the April attack and the sites were not militant bases.

Around 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides – which have not been independently verified.

India also suspended its top cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, as a result of rising tensions, while the Pakistan Super League moved the remainder of its season to the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a conference on Friday that the US is in constant contact with both India and Pakistan.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

World

Pope Leo: How voting for new pontiff unfolded behind closed doors of the conclave

Published

3 hours ago

May 9, 2025

admin

Pope Leo: How voting for new pontiff unfolded behind closed doors of the conclave

Conclaves are famously unpredictable affairs – and once again the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the new pope caught many by surprise.

The newly elected Pope Leo XIV won the consensus of the 133 cardinal electors after only four ballots – a fast process for a diverse college of cardinals.

Though his name had circulated among some Vatican watchers, other cardinals had emerged as clear front-runners, including Pietro Parolin – the Vatican’s number two who would have been the first Italian in almost 50 years to become pontiff – or Luis Tagle, a Filipino cardinal looking to become the first Asian pope.

Instead, it was the first North American to win the highly secretive process.

So, what went on behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel?

Until Thursday lunchtime, Cardinal Parolin was ahead, gathering between 45 and 55 votes, sources say.

A substantial number, but well short of the 89 votes he needed for a two-thirds majority.

At this point, Cardinal Prevost had between 34 and 44 votes.

But as the Italian struggled to grow his support during the first three rounds of voting, he stepped down from the race, endorsing Prevost instead, Sky News understands.

An internal battle between Luis Tagle and Pablo Virgilio David – both cardinals hailing from Asia – cancelled out both of their chances.

And a contender from Africa – the most conservative sector of the church – was never likely for a conclave where the overwhelming majority of cardinals had been appointed by Francis, a progressive pontiff, sources say.

An American pope has long been seen as highly improbable, given the geopolitical power of the US.

But Cardinal Prevost was able to draw from across the groups making up the electors: moderate US cardinals, South American cardinals and many European cardinals all coalesced around him.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica said Prevost “certainly attracted cross-party preferences, both ideologically and geographically”.

“In the conclave he was the least American of Americans: Born in Chicago, he lived 20 years in Peru,” the newspaper said.

It added: “As a man used to teamwork, Prevost appeared to many as the right man to make the papacy evolve into a more collegial form.”

World

Russia’s Victory Day parade felt more like a celebration of war than peace

Published

3 hours ago

May 9, 2025

admin

Russia's Victory Day parade felt more like a celebration of war than peace

Standing on Red Square, this was an intimidating sight, which felt much more like a celebration of war rather than peace.

I could feel the ground shake as the tanks rolled past, their caterpillar tracks on the ancient cobbles providing a deafening clatter.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up in fear as the phalanxes of troops roared “Hurrah” in response to their commander in chief.

And the sight of combat drones being paraded on their launchers was actually quite sickening. Weapons that have been at the forefront of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were paraded in a show of pomp and patriotism.

Ukraine war latest: Putin welcomes Xi at Victory Day parade

For the rest of Europe, the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War has been a celebration of peace, but this felt much more like a celebration of war.

And it wasn’t just military hardware on display here, but the very identity of modern Russia.

For this is a country that is now defined by its military and its memory. The glory and sacrifice of 1945 have been weaponised to give credence to Russia’s current course and to make people believe that victory is their right.

For Russians, it served as a rallying cry and there was applause when the troops who have fought against Ukraine marched past.

But for those watching in Kyiv and other European capitals, it was an overt warning that Moscow has no intention of backing down.

The parade was considerably larger in scale than in recent years, when units and hardware have been needed on the battlefield. I think it was a deliberate attempt to project an image of confidence, and so was Vladimir Putin‘s positioning of his guests.

China’s Xi Jinping was given a prime position on the Kremlin leader’s right-hand side. It was no surprise given the economic lifeline Beijing has provided, but it felt like a particularly pointed gesture to the West – that they were looking at a new world order.

Despite that appearance of confidence, there were signs of Moscow’s unease that the parade could be disrupted.

There were snipers on every rooftop. Security was extremely tight. And the mobile internet signal across the city centre was completely shut down for fear of Ukrainian drone attacks, meaning none of the international media that had gathered could broadcast any live transmissions.

After the parade finished, Putin saluted the crowds as they spontaneously erupted into rhythmic shouts of “Rus-si-ya” at the sight of him.

Another PR coup complete without interruption, he will have departed as a very happy man.