Former Disney Channel star Callum Worthy has helped create a new app that allows users to create AI versions of their dead relatives, but “The View” host Alyssa Farah Griffin definitely isn’t into the idea. On Friday morning, the ABC host was quick to pour cold water on the idea.
In discussing the app as part of the day’s Hot Topics, the hosts watched the ad for the app, in which a pregnant woman talks to an electronic version of her deceased mom, looking for comfort. Given the context of the situation, host Joy Behar immediately went to Farah Griffin for her opinion, wondering if Farah Griffin would want to be able to have her unborn baby talk to her grandmothers.
“Listen, I miss both of my departed grandmas, but this gives me a little bit of uncomfortability,” Farah Griffin admitted. “I’ve got wonderful memories, I’ve got photos, I wish I had more, but I choose to keep them alive through stories and talking about them with my loved ones.”
Farah Griffin then called out the methodology of the app, which uses three minutes of video and photo to create the avatar of the person you want to talk to. For Farah Griffin, the idea is laughable.
“You cannot create, re-create the essence of a person with that little information,” she said. “And I think when somebody is grieving, too, this could kind of delay the grieving process. Like, part of it is accepting that person’s no longer here, but they’ll always be a part of you.”
At that, Behar suggested a scenario where the grieving has already been done, and a user is thinking about re-creating their loved one several years later. Still, Farah Griffin took a hard pass on the idea.
“Because they’re gonna say stuff my grandma might not have said!” she retorted with a laugh.
Farah Griffin conceded that the app might work a bit better in the future, for people who have more of a digital footprint to leave behind. But even then, she noted that a computer-generated stand-in simply can’t replace a real person.
“The View” airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.
