But beyond that, realizing the deep impact of such personal connections, the AI industry has moved ahead to develop bots which imitate real people — be it famous personalities or even influencers. But then the progress isn’t essentially confined to replicating voices or images. The idea is to build a digital heritage, so leaving the possibilities for people to continue to exist in a virtual space after they are dead. The project by Mayer tends to be an important milestone in the AI world. It’s a shift from the mentality of regarding AI as just a helpful tool to knowing it as a provider of emotional support as well as maintaining one’s memory.