Meet a family using AI to preserve loved ones after death [Video]

Once a week, 9-year-old Jayce Gowin and his dad sit down at their living room table to discuss anything from a favorite flavor of Cheetos to life advice. But Jayce doesn’t talk to his dad — instead he interacts with an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot trained to mimic his father.

Jayce sits next to his real-life dad, Jason Gowin, who types questions into a laptop on behalf of Jayce, before the two of them await an audio response from the AI. Gowin said he sought out the technology after serious health scares left him and his wife concerned about leaving Jayce and his young siblings parentless.

On a Sunday morning last month, Jayce wanted to know whether the bot remembered his favorite stuffed animal, Bob.

“Yes, Jayce,” the AI uttered in a voice meant to closely resemble his father’s. “Bob is a mouse character in your bedtime stories. We’ve talked about him before and how he has …