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Investigation found that in a number of e-commerce platforms, just enter the AI ‘resurrection’ keywords, you can find a large number of related businesses and programmes, just a photo and text information, you can achieve the photo of people moving, not only speak, but also resurrection of the original voice, the price ranges from a few dollars, dozens of dollars to hundreds of dollars.

Accordingly, Zhao Zhanling, a lawyer and partner of the Intellectual Property Research Centre of China University of Political Science and Law, accepted an interview with CCTV and made an in-depth interpretation of such events.

Merchants: ‘AI resurrection of loved ones’ products priced as low as a few dollars

At present, some funeral service companies are taking advantage of the ‘AI creative content’ wind mouth, the love and remembrance of the deceased into digital products, so that families can have a dialogue with the digital image of their loved ones, to help them find a trace of comfort in their grief. Mausoleums in many places have also introduced AI technology to ‘resurrect’ the deceased, enabling real-time dialogue between relatives and their AI digital loved ones.

AI ‘resurrection’ products and services and merchants on e-commerce platforms (CCTV image from network screenshot)

AI ‘resurrection’ has become a business on several e-commerce platforms and social media platforms. AI ‘resurrection’ as a keyword, in the e-commerce platform to search, some merchants show a variety of ‘AI resurrection of loved ones’ products, these products include pictures, videos, etc., the price of a few yuan, dozens of yuan to hundreds of yuan ranging. According to merchants, consumers only need to provide a photo can, for the video voice, can be provided by the customer, can also be provided by the business. Some merchants also sell ‘AI production generation resurrection of loved ones video tutorials’, or note ‘apprenticeship’, and marked ‘short video new track easy to fire the whole platform side project’ and other words. The video is not a good one, but it is a good one. In some short video platform AI ‘resurrection’ content and business video below, many netizens commented that they are willing to spend money to buy this service, and have ordered.

Expert: AI ‘resurrection’ faces ethical and legal challenges

According to previous media reports, the use of AI technology by some online bloggers to ‘resurrect’ dead celebrities has sparked controversy. Ethically, unauthorised ‘resurrection’ may violate the personality rights of the deceased, and public figures in particular are prone to abuse. In addition, the conflict between the virtual image and the real will of the deceased may blur the boundaries between life and death, leading to identity issues. Legally, according to Article 994 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, the unauthorised use of a deceased person's portrait requires the consent of the next of kin, or else civil liability will be incurred. Dissemination platforms are also jointly and severally liable for infringing content, but current labelling norms are insufficiently enforced. At the same time, the construction of the digital person involves a large amount of sensitive information, there is a risk of leakage, and the user interacts with the digital person generated by the behaviour of the data may be improper use.

Zhao Zhanling lawyer said, AI ‘resurrection’ is mainly related to the civil code of the right to portrait and voice-related rights and interests, without the consent of their legal successors, can not use AI software or other ways to synthesise their portrait or voice, or constitute a violation of the law. In addition, the platform business without the consent of others will be other people's AI ‘resurrection’ information case, as the display of publicity use, also constitutes infringement.

Zhao Zhanling also pointed out that the use of AI synthesised images or videos for fraud, but also involves a criminal offence. In this case, the general audience and users may be difficult to distinguish between true and false, so the masses need to be more vigilant and precautionary, such as encountering similar borrowing and other requests, must be verified through a reliable way to verify.

How to face the phenomenon of the proliferation of false audio and video?

Zhao Zhanling lawyer said, AI ‘resurrection’ of the deceased is a double-edged sword, need to be used with caution. This technology can make up for the emotional shortcomings, but may also deepen the pain of parting. Therefore, the technical boundaries should be clear, respect the rights and interests of the deceased and relatives. From the standpoint of promoting the standardised development of the market, the regulatory authorities also need to make early judgments, formulate reasonable standards, urge businesses to operate in an orderly manner, protect data security, avoid the abuse of technology, and ensure that AI ‘resurrection’ of the deceased technology can be healthy under the premise of lawful and compliant development.