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We may think it’s weird or creeptacular when someone we know says they talk to a dead relative. I think that it’s normal and natural to talk with a loved one, depending on where and when you do it. There is a company now doing an app so you can have a nexgen real relationship with relative who has moved on to the next plane of existence.
The latest company to jump into the uncharted water is “2Wai”. Really. According to Interesting Engineering:
In 2020, Kanye West gifted Kim Kardashian a hologram message of her late father, Rob Kardashian, for her birthday. The spectacle felt like a glimpse into a bizarre, dystopian future reserved for the rich and famous.
Now, the AI boom appears to be steering the wider world in the same direction.
A new AI company has sparked controversy online after launching an app that enables users to create interactive digital avatars of deceased family members.
The Los Angeles–based startup, 2Wai, went viral when co-founder Calum Worthy released a promotional video showing how the technology works.
The clip features a pregnant woman speaking to an AI recreation of her late mother through her phone.
It then jumps forward 10 months, showing the AI “grandma” reading a bedtime story to the baby.
Later, the child, now a young boy, talks casually with the avatar while walking home from school.
The video ends with the grown son telling the digital grandmother that she is about to become a great-grandmother.
“With 2Wai, three minutes can last forever,” the video states.
Worthy added that the company is “building a living archive of humanity” through its avatar-based social network. He also wrote, “What if the loved ones we’ve lost could be part of our future?”
Three minutes CANNOT last forever. I cannot even comprehend how many cans of worms this new application opens up. Even if your loved one consents to being part of this
hot mess, you still have to pay the data and storage fees. Follow the money. A fool and his money…you know that whole thing. Upselling. Everything. In perpetuity you are paying for data and storage fees and UPGRADES. Grandmas gonna have to get upgrades. Your third generation family member won’t relate to her without your regularly scheduled upgrades. And, upgrades will cost you.
Don’t forget about subscription fees.
This is Black Mirror-level creepy, evil even: An app that brings your dead love ones to life with Ai.
As several of the replies noted, grandma will die again if you don't keep up with the subscription fees. pic.twitter.com/magL0FZpbl— Tom Mallory ♂️ (@tom_mallory) November 13, 2025
The ethical issues are even more vexing. There can be no simple answers. Can Joaquin testify in court or just sway opinions talking to Jim Acosta. A.I. Joaquin never experienced the shooting. It’s all manipulation.
WATCH: Former CNN reporter Jim Acosta interviews an AI-generated avatar of a deceased Parkland shooting victim.
“I think that’s a great idea Joaquin.” pic.twitter.com/VSqriSx6dY
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) August 5, 2025
If I haven’t convinced you that this is a creeptacular, dystopian nightmare and stay far away from it, here is an advertisement from 2wai:
✨ They look human. They act human. They remember you.
Say hello to our most lifelike avatars yet.
Meet Alina tonight. Tomorrow? Build your own.
100% in your control. Zero deepfakes.
Download free on iOS → link in bio pic.twitter.com/H3ZLT9rV4d
— 2wai (@2waiApp) October 11, 2025
The best streaming series I have seen in years addressed these issues over four seasons – Upload:
In 2033, humans can “upload” themselves into a virtual afterlife of their choosing. When computer programmer Nathan Brown dies prematurely, he is uploaded to the very expensive Lakeview, but then finds himself under the thumb of his possessive, still-living girlfriend Ingrid. As Nathan adjusts to the pros and cons of digital heaven, he bonds with Nora, his living customer service rep. Nora struggles with the pressures of her job, her dying father who does not want to be uploaded, and her growing feelings for Nathan while slowly coming to believe that Nathan was murdered.
“Upload” looked at all these questions and more but it was fun:
Being able to hang with G’ma, Williams Shakespeare or Freddie Mercury sounds fun. Or living the Gilded Age or Ralph Lauren Life on a Permabasis sounds great but follow the money. Do you trust anyone in the Deep State?
Featured Image: Public Domain
I was quite close to my mother in her later years, and we talked a great deal.
Yet, I COULD NOT create an “avatar” of her for my children. How could I? She was formed by growing up in the Great Depression in Kansas – what I have is a few stories of going to farm foreclosure sales, but those don’t communicate the despondency of those she saw there.
Further formed by waiting with my eldest sibling, just a baby, fearing every day that she would receive “The Letter” that would let her know my father had been killed somewhere in France or Germany, then the rushed relocation to Seattle where she lived for several months while he recovered from his wounds.
Working with my father (with three children by then) to establish his veterinary practice in a place that was essentially a “foreign country” to her, a mining town in Arizona.
I wasn’t there. I could never reproduce the amazing woman that she was. Probably not even a pale copy of her. It would be a disservice to her AND my descendants to try.
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