Alan Hamel, the husband of American actress and author Suzanne Somers, is creating an AI clone of his wife 2 years after her death due to breast cancer.
Hamel has said that he and Somers had conversations about the idea of an AI clone in the 1980s after computer scientist Ray Kurzweil introduced the concept. According to an interview Hamel gave to People magazine, it was entirely Suzanne’s idea, and she viewed it as an opportunity to continue providing a service to her fans and sharing valuable information about her books. To Hamel, the project is a “perfect” way to keep her memory alive and fulfill one of her wishes.
In partnership with Hollo.AI, Realbotix Corp. began the creation of Somers’s clone. The AI has been trained using “all of Suzanne’s 27 books and a lot of interviews that she has done, hundreds of interviews, so that she’s really ready to be able to be asked any question at all and be able to answer it.” Hamel stated that once the AI clone is completed, it will be available 24/7 on a website for fans, able to answer questions about everything from her life’s work to her health problems. Furthermore, to protect against the spread of misinformation, Realbotix recruited the company Life Extension to confirm all health-related facts.
Hamel told People that speaking to the Suzanne AI clone for the first time was strange. Even so, after 3 minutes, he forgot about the fact that it was a robot. He also mentioned that “when you look at the finished one next to the real Suzanne, you can’t tell the difference,” despite the fact that Suzanne and Alan were together for 55 years.
Although Somers had discussed the idea of creating a clone of herself prior to her death in 2023, the project has sparked an ethical debate. The increasing realism of AI has caused concerns, especially since Hamel “can’t tell the difference” between the robot and his late wife. Furthermore, questions over the morality of profiting off of Suzanne’s popularity and career after her death remain.
