Can new technology reconnect us with a dead loved one? Meet CU’s ‘generative ghosts’ expert

In 2024, chatbots are part of ordinary life. They pop up on your screen while you’re checking your bank account or making an online purchase.  

But a few years from now it may be just as easy to have a conversation with a chatbot who recreates a dead loved one.  That’s the idea behind a kind of technology called a generative ghost. 

Jed Brubaker is associate professor at the University of Colorado and one of the people leading the development of generative ghosts. Jed is part of a team that recently received $75,000 from Google to study how generative ghosts could become part of our lives.  

In the NoCo’s Brad Turner spoke with Jed about what a visit with the generative ghost of a dead loved one would feel like. 

By the way, Jed also leads the Digital Legacy Clinic – a free clinic at CU to help people who want to get a deceased loved one’s digital affairs in order.

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Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

What is In The NOCO?

KUNC's In The NOCO is a daily look at the stories, news, people and issues important to you. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show explores the big stories of the day, bringing context and insight to issues that matter. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we explore the lighter side of news, highlighting what makes this state such an incredible place to live.