Microsoft’s Chatbots Could Let Us Speak to the Dead

Microsoft’s chatbots may one day allow us to communicate with loved ones who have died.

When my stepdad died, the first thing I missed was our conversations. I missed hearing his voice. I missed texting him and getting his signature replies. When you love someone for a long time, you recognize their words almost as well as you recognize your own. It’s in the small things; how they use too many ellipses, or how they sprinkle the word “literally” over sentences with the gusto of an Italian sprinkling garlic salt. 

When someone dies, you miss those familiar phrases — even the ones that used to annoy you. 

As crazy as it sounds, when my stepdad died, I missed him so much that I sent him a text. I didn’t expect a reply, because that’s impossible … right? According to Microsoft, it might not be. 

New Patent Promises Chatbots of Anyone, Including the Dead

If you’re out of the loop, a bot is a computer program that operates on the internet and completes repetitive tasks. A chatbot can use data, like a person’s age, gender, texts, and social media posts, to generate automatic responses in their voice. A live user could theoretically train a bot to respond exactly like themselves, leaving behind a bot that acts as a replacement. 

Obviously, a beloved human being cannot be replaced by a machine, but chatbots may be able to offer comfort. Say you miss telling a special someone about your day or asking them for support when you have to make a tough decision. Their chatbot could serve as an encouraging stand-in. 

Chatbot Technology Still Has a Long Way to Go

For now, chatbots are far from perfect. They’re not actually human, so they can’t pick up all the nuances in our speech. The result is like an echo of a person. The phrases used in the bot’s responses are familiar, but there’s something missing. The chatbot might misunderstand a joke or give a response that doesn’t quite make sense. In time, those mistakes may be reduced or eliminated to create an almost perfect representation of someone’s patterns of speech.

In essence, we may be able to talk to computer-made versions of our loved ones after they’re gone. But should we? 

There are countless moments that I wish I could share with the people I’ve lost. If I could talk to a fake version of them, however, I’m not sure I would. While part of me hoped my stepdad would reply when I sent him that final text, having him actually respond might have made it more challenging to move on. Could it be a slippery psychological slope, writing to a person who’s not actually there? 

Similar to Any Other End-of-Life Ritual: They’re a Choice.

When I was feeling rushed or overwhelmed as a kid, my stepdad would often take a deep, slow breath and tell me, “Like a butterfly.” Butterflies don’t rush, you see. Just yesterday when I was annoyed in traffic, my 6-year-old told me the same thing. 

For my part, I feel that the voices of the dead are passed on through the stories of the living. But if talking to a chatbot makes you feel more connected or helps you find closure, then why not?