An advertising campaign showing the late Elis Regina and her daughter Maria Rita playing a duet has sparked antagonistic reactions on social media.
in the piece of Volkswagen, the singer who died in the eighties was brought back to life by Artificial Intelligence (AI). She appears driving a Kombi and singing Como nuestros padres, by Belchior.
Although many fans and netizens praised and were excited by the announcement, others questioned whether it is ethical to use the image of a person who is no longer alive in a fictional context.
The sociologist and impact coordinator of the Artificial Intelligence Center of the University of São Paulo (USP), Glauco Arbix, told BBC what the topic is controversialeither because it raises debates about the psychological effects of bringing the dead to life using technology or because it touches on issues such as consent, veracity and the finiteness of life.
For Arbix, using AI in a non-transparent, informed or conscious way carries many risks, especially when there is spatial displacement or attribution of false statements to the person portrayed.
“Not because you can do it you should do it”, assures. “It is one thing to keep a film of someone who died in the drawer to see it a few times and another thing to recreate (his image of her) in new conditions, as if he were still alive.”
According to the USP professor, “society is not prepared to deal with this spatial and circumstantial displacement” of deceased figures and doing so can be “disturbing” for some people.
“The finiteness of life is sedimented in social history. Even for those who believe in life after death, it is always something more inaccessible and different from what we see now, which we are not prepared for as a society, ”she opines.
The BBC contacted Volkswagen to find out its position on the matter, but did not receive a response at the time of writing.
It can destroy the name and reputation
The Volkswagen campaign was not the first to use artificial intelligence to stage realities with people already dead.
In the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyactress Carrie Fisher was also digitally recreated to appear as the young Princess Leia.
In June, musician Paul McCartney said artificial intelligence had been used so that the voice of John Lennon – his bandmate who died in 1980 – could be used in a new Beatles song.
technology, also known as deepfakeis often used to create fake videos featuring celebrities and political figures.
In the case of the automaker’s announcement, artificial intelligence was trained for Elis Regina’s facial recognition, as opposed to AI projects that use technology pre-trained from generic data.
According to information disclosed by the Volkswagen company, the AI received extensive training with different technologies, combining the performance of the double with the movements and images of Elis, to arrive at the result of the singer’s face in the ad.
Although the Volkswagen video was made with the authorization and participation of Elis Regina’s daughter, Arbix believes that this technology can also be used for dangerous purposes, distorting the facts, and even in the pornography or pedophilia industry.
“The person may be the subject of a recreation that ends up destroying his name and reputation“, it states. “But he also raises questions from the point of view of the integrity of family life.”
According to the sociologist, still there is no consensus among the medical community about the psychological effects to see or even chat via AI with loved ones who have passed away.
Several technology companies, including the American HereAfter AI, have been developing technologies to develop a digital version of someone. So it would be possible to create an artificial dialogue with a deceased person using personal information, voice tools and advanced artificial intelligence.
“From a psychological point of view, some say that it can help maintain memory and comfort the family. But there are also those who are totally against it”, says Glauco Arbix.
Some have even tried to protect themselves from it. Actor Robin Williams, who died in 2014, placed a restriction on the use of his image for 25 years after his death in his will.
The American wanted to prevent his figure from being reproduced using holograms or other technologies for commercial purposes.
Image rights and consent
Regarding image rights or consent, the sociologist Glauco Arbix believes that Brazilian legislation already has all the conflicts well resolved.
“The legislation and the way in which our society sees it account for the dilemma. Families own the copyright”, affirm.
And he adds: “Discussing whether, for example, Elis Regina would authorize the use of her image in this ad is naive, because she did not authorize the disclosure of photos either, but this issue is provided for in the legislation.”
For Sara Suárez-Gonzalo, a professor at the Open University of Catalonia and a researcher on the subject, the debate should go further. For her, consent of relatives is not enough.
“Even when they die, people are not mere things that others can do with as they please. That’s why Our societies consider it wrong to desecrate or disrespect the memory of the dead.think.
“In other words, we have certain moral obligations towards the dead, to the extent that death does not necessarily imply that people cease to exist in a morally relevant way,” he says in an article published on the web. The Conversation.
According to Suárez-Gonzalo, the debate is even more complex when it comes to bots that collect personal data to replicate conversations with deceased people, because someone’s personality “requires large amounts of personal information, such as data from social networks that reveal very sensitive characteristics. ”.
The researcher also highlights that another ethical issue that involves the use of AI is responsibility for the results of the technology, especially in the case of harmful effects.
If a bot, video, or image created using the technology, for example, cause damage to the mental health of a family member, who will be responsible?
By Julia Braun
BBC Mundo
