South Korean Tech Firms Offer AI Videos Simulating Deceased Relatives

Tech startups in South Korea produce short AI-generated videos showing deceased relatives delivering scripted messages. Customers supply several photos and brief voice recordings, after which the companies create digital likenesses that speak lines written by the client.

Lee Geon Hui, a 28-year-old office worker, ordered a three-to-five-minute video in December from the Seoul-based firm Vaice. ” Lee said his father initially refused to watch but later cried after viewing it.

Won said the company handles roughly 300 orders each month, primarily from people in their 40s and 50s seeking videos of late parents. A basic video costs 600,000 won, about $390. Many customers play the clips during family memorial gatherings or major holidays.

JL Standard executive Choi Yu Ha said the company launched a comparable service five years ago and initially encountered customer suspicion. Acceptance has increased after television programs featured AI recreations of deceased celebrities, she said.

” Choung Wan, an emeritus professor at Seoul’s Kyung Hee University Law School, called for new statutes that would prevent creation of an AI likeness if the deceased had opposed it and would restrict commercial use of images and voices. Experts noted that future “griefbots” capable of two-way conversation could intensify psychological and legal questions.

Ro said current chatbots still show mismatches between speech and facial expressions during longer exchanges. Won stated his firm remains cautious about offering real-time chatbot services because conversations cannot be monitored by staff. Ro said he created a one-minute AI video of his own late parents last year and played it once for his siblings.