Artificial Intelligence is being used by Chinese mourners to digitally revive the deceased.

 TAIZHOU: A grieving father named Seakoo Wu takes out his phone, places it on a gravestone, and plays a recording of his son in a serene cemetery in eastern China. These are artificial intelligence-created words that the departed student never spoke.

In a cemetery in the eastern Zhejiang province of China, SEAKOO Wu and his spouse pay respects to the tomb of their son, Wu Xuanmo.

Xuanmo says in a somewhat robotic voice, "I know you're in great pain every day because of me, and feel guilty and helpless."

"My soul is still in this world, accompanying you through life, even though I can't be by your side ever again." Wu, who is grieving, and his spouse have joined the increasing number of Chinese individuals who are using AI technology to make lifelike avatars of their deceased loved ones.

Wu's ultimate goal is to create an incredibly lifelike virtual reality replica that acts and behaves exactly like his deceased son. "I'll have my son with me again once we synchronize reality and the metaverse," Wu declared. "I can train him so he knows I'm his father when he sees me."

Thousands of "digital people" are allegedly produced by some Chinese companies using as little as 30 seconds of the deceased's audiovisual content. According to experts, they can provide much-needed solace to those who have lost loved ones.

However, they also bring to mind an unsettling motif from the British science fiction series "Black Mirror," in which bereavement support is provided by sophisticated AI.

When their only child, Xuanmo, 22, unexpectedly passed away last year at the age of 22 while enrolled at Exeter University in Britain, Wu and his wife were devastated. Wu stated that the posthumous organ donor, enthusiastic athlete, and student of accounting and finance "had such a rich and varied life."