Son Uses AI to Recreate Late Father’s Voice for Christmas Present, Sparking a Fierce Debate

Trigger Warning: This article contains themes of grief that some readers may find distressing.

A St. Louis man used artificial intelligence (AI) to simulate his late father's voice as a special Christmas gift for his mother. Philip Willett's tale soon attracted global attention after he shared a TikTok video showing the production process and his mother's emotional reaction. The video received millions of views and sparked a conversation about the ethical implications of utilizing AI to replicate the voices of deceased loved ones.

Phillip, a 27-year-old content developer behind The Content Guy media company, first hesitated when his wife, Kassandra Willett, recommended employing AI for the special holiday gift. Philip revealed to Good Morning America that he found the proposal 'kind of weird' at first. However, he began to investigate its potential after being inspired by a growing online community of people who had successfully utilized AI to replicate the sounds of their lost loved ones.

John Willett, Phillip's father, died in 2022 after a struggle with pancreatic cancer. Philip, who saw his late father as a 'hero,' was driven to produce a meaningful gift for his mother, Trish Willett. Philip utilized ElevenLabs' text-to-speech software to meticulously reproduce his father's voice.

"The actual first words that I put into the program were 'Hi, honey.' And I can't tell you how many times I've heard [my late father] say that in my life, which was why it was the first thing I put in," Philip remarked. Hearing his father's voice through the AI software motivated him to persevere with the task, working relentlessly for a whole day to perfect the replica.

Philip not only reproduced his father's voice but also created a video book of his parents' favorite images. "I wanted the video to feel like it was like a portal, that she could open this book and just be immersed in it and feel the emotion of their relationship," he said. "What the AI was able to do with that video, is really encapsulate their whole life together."

Philip caught his mother's emotional reaction when he presented the final result to her ahead of Christmas, which he uploaded on TikTok and Instagram. Trish was noticeably touched in the video as she embraced her child after hearing her late husband's voice again. Millions of viewers expressed empathy and support for the family in response to the emotional moment. While the film earned great praise for its emotional impact and new and compassionate use of AI, it also ignited a broader discussion about the ethics of using artificial intelligence to replicate the voices of departed humans.

AI technology has advanced quickly in recent months, enabling possibilities such as recreating voices and even replicating the consciousness of deceased loved ones. This has raised worries about the ethical implications of using someone's likeness and voice after death, raising problems about consent and potential misuse. The argument goes beyond individual mourning and recollection to broader societal concerns about the limits of technology and the possibility of exploitation. Critics are concerned that AI-generated likenesses would be used for scams or other criminal objectives.

This comes at a time when firms ranging from Somnium to Deepbrain are aggressively developing AI technologies that will allow people to upload the consciousness of deceased loved ones onto computers, as reported by The New York Post. The ethical issues linked with such breakthroughs have grown in prominence, prompting debates about the necessity for regulation and controls in the use of AI in postmortem applications.

GRIEF SUPPORT: If you're struggling to cope with grief and need help, please reach out to Crisis Response at 1-800-203-CARE (2273).