2wai, an American startup that develops digital avatars supported by artificial intelligence, entered the center of a global controversy after going viral with a video showing the virtual recreation of a deceased woman.
The tool allows users to generate digital versions of dead relatives through a short video recorded on their cell phone. The material released by actor Calum Worthy on X surpassed four million views and opened a debate about the ethical limits of technology.
The video features a pregnant woman talking to a digital representation of her dead mother. Throughout the narrative, the virtual grandmother follows her grandson’s growth, reads stories and interacts with the family until the moment when the character, as an adult, announces that she will become a great-grandmother. The advertising piece ends with the message that a few minutes of recording would be enough to preserve these interactions in the future.
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Worthy, who is also co-founder of the company alongside producer Russell Geyser, defended the project by calling it a “living archive of humanity” and questioning what it would be like to integrate dead people into families’ digital daily lives. The reaction, however, was mostly negative.
Users classified the proposal as emotionally risky and potentially harmful to the grieving process. Part of the comments also pointed out discomfort with the constant presence of the digital grandmother at her grandson’s side at different stages of life.
Criticism of emotional risks and commercial use of grief
The issue quickly extended to comparisons with “Be Right Back”, an episode of “Black Mirror” in which a woman tries to live with an artificial version of her dead partner. For many, the rapprochement between fiction and reality highlights the need for clearer limits for the use of AI in contexts of mourning and memory. According to Forbes, several users called the application dystopian and criticized the possibility of transforming the absence of a loved one into a business model.
The application offers the creation of so-called HoloAvatars, which can chat in real time, reproduce movements and speak in different languages. The company claims that the avatar is generated from a three-minute video, but does not detail how this limited data collection can support personality or memory simulations. The lack of explanations reinforced doubts about privacy, accuracy and consent, especially in the case of people who are no longer alive to authorize the use of the image.
In addition to personalized recreations, the platform offers historical characters and pre-configured avatars. The set of features increased criticism about the risk of mixing entertainment, emotional relationships and real or posthumous identities. Comments on the networks also expressed concern about the possibility of emotional dependence, distortion of memories and financial exploitation of grief.
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Investment and expansion
2wai says it aims to make the experience more accessible and expand the use of avatars for education, entertainment and communication.
The company had already informed Forbes that it received five million dollars in initial rounds of investment and maintains collaborations with technology companies such as British Telecom, IBM and Globe Telecom, signaling plans to expand its reach in the market.
