A Canadian man's way of dealing with his grief was to speak to his fiancée using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
We're pretty sure there was a 'Black Mirror' episode exactly like this but things didn't end so well in the show.
Cool or creepy?
According to an article in San Fransisco Chronicle, Joshua Barbeau used an artificial intelligence site to “chat” with Jessica Courtney Pereira, eight years after she died of a rare liver disease.
The report said he paid RM16 to create a new bot on a website called Project December.
Through the site, Barbeau collected his girlfriend’s old text messages and Facebook posts, and created a chat box that would mimic her writing.
The bot proved to be worthwhile as Barbaeu said many times it had “eerily mimicked” his late fiancée.
“I am the girl that you are madly in love with.
“How is it possible that you even have to ask?” wrote the bot one time.
“I love you. I will be here waiting for you,” it wrote in another.
In one of the last messages with the bot this year, it said, “I am going to haunt you forever.”
Barbaeu said he had to use the bot sparingly because he could only last for a specific amount of hours.
For those asking about my well-being, thank you! I'm fine! This article is about 5 isolated conversations I had with a bot over a 7-month span starting with Jessica's birthday when I wanted to remember her most. It does not paint a complete picture of my entire life. I'm well!
— Joshua (@JoshuaBarbeau) July 24, 2021
If you're wondering if Barbaeu is OK, he went on Reddit to answer questions people may have for him after the article was published and widely picked up by many news outlets.
To a Reddit users question wondering if engaging with the AI helped him get closure or it reopened old wounds, Barbaeu answered "Both? Both. Definitely a bit of both, but more of the former than the latter."
Grieving is a unique journey for everyone. We hope Barbaeu finds the closure he needs!