March 6, 2026
AI Beyond the Grave (GT Mini)
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A grim technology takes shape in 2026.
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WEBVTT
00:00.031 --> 00:05.248
[SPEAKER_00]: Beyond the grave, I'm Jason Horton, I'm Rebecca Leib, and this is Ghost Town.
00:20.045 --> 00:36.781
[SPEAKER_01]: It's Friday, and I have something that I feel very compelled to share and talk about because AI, everybody's talking about it, everyone's talking about the rise of AI, what it means, what certain things are approved by AI, what human things are taken away by it.
00:37.802 --> 00:49.073
[SPEAKER_01]: So I just learned that meta has patented an AI that can keep a deceased person's account active and running on social media, like posting, messaging, even video calling by replicating their behavior
00:49.053 --> 00:59.348
[SPEAKER_01]: The company was granted a patent in late December that outlines how this large language model can, quote, simulate a person's social media activity, such as responding to content.
00:59.388 --> 01:02.232
[SPEAKER_01]: Again, being a human without being a human.
01:03.133 --> 01:06.037
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, this chilled me to my core.
01:06.478 --> 01:10.584
[SPEAKER_01]: I can't, at first I was like, I can't imagine this is like insane.
01:10.945 --> 01:12.006
[SPEAKER_01]: What are your thoughts about this?
01:12.998 --> 01:16.863
[SPEAKER_00]: I barely want to see social media from people that are a lot.
01:19.447 --> 01:24.875
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I'm annoying on this plane.
01:24.895 --> 01:27.779
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't imagine how annoying I would be.
01:27.959 --> 01:30.182
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't want to be poking people from beyond.
01:30.202 --> 01:30.923
[SPEAKER_01]: No.
01:30.903 --> 01:58.952
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, no, there's something in my show and this is also going to compare to like when you like like tax Dermy like an all like when you get a head stuffed it's like not this like It's it's it's it's really better to move on and I'm all like I mean we love nostalgia We love looking at pictures and videos and I'm I'm all that but I don't need I don't need like Miss like a new nostalgia yeah from things that are gone
01:59.742 --> 02:01.385
[SPEAKER_01]: No, I agree.
02:01.505 --> 02:07.555
[SPEAKER_01]: I think we are, but I think as humans were desperate to cling, we like familiarity in any form.
02:07.676 --> 02:19.636
[SPEAKER_01]: Even if it's uncanny valley, crazy macabre familiarity, which is why like, yeah, like a taxidermy thing, or even like, you know, in people like their pet dies and they get one like the day later, where it's like holy shit.
02:19.656 --> 02:21.940
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, now you just have a new being living with you.
02:22.000 --> 02:23.843
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's very like holy shit.
02:23.823 --> 02:34.744
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, so yeah, I was like, like, grossed out by this, but then part of me is like, kind of what happens when like the accounts that like I really like to talk shit about are gone, you know, like then what do I do?
02:35.467 --> 02:40.174
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, if two options, one, you can not talk shit.
02:40.635 --> 02:42.537
[SPEAKER_00]: You can learn to stop, you just want it there.
02:43.018 --> 02:49.507
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, if you learn to celebrate or the ideas, they'll always be new ones for you.
02:49.788 --> 02:54.775
[SPEAKER_01]: They'll be new, yeah, they'll be like teenagers who will mature into and sufferable adults that I can,
02:54.755 --> 02:56.758
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's the gift that keeps on giving.
02:56.778 --> 02:58.380
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, that's people that run out.
02:58.400 --> 02:58.640
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
02:58.900 --> 02:59.501
[SPEAKER_01]: That's a beautiful thing.
02:59.561 --> 03:00.362
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, mine would be.
03:00.863 --> 03:06.070
[SPEAKER_01]: I post so rarely that mine would be like, every once in a while, like a show that came out that I worked on.
03:06.350 --> 03:09.955
[SPEAKER_01]: So they'll be like, 20, 90.
03:10.235 --> 03:13.800
[SPEAKER_01]: But hey, look, uh, dead into coders.
03:13.820 --> 03:16.524
[SPEAKER_01]: There's just like, like, what is my legacy this?
03:16.964 --> 03:19.848
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, maybe like a bowl of ramen that you post new then, like, 2012.
03:20.008 --> 03:21.370
[SPEAKER_00]: Excellent.
03:21.552 --> 03:24.115
[SPEAKER_00]: I've gotten a lot of mileage out of that ramen, you know.
03:24.155 --> 03:30.222
[SPEAKER_00]: And mine is like some kind of like a picture from like an improv show that was really boring.
03:30.302 --> 03:34.007
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, a bunch of guys and plaid shirts holding up another guy.
03:34.027 --> 03:34.387
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
03:34.587 --> 03:36.349
[SPEAKER_01]: Was that guy you being held up?
03:36.530 --> 03:38.492
[SPEAKER_00]: That was me being I was the center.
03:38.512 --> 03:41.355
[SPEAKER_00]: I was I had a lot of main character energy.
03:41.375 --> 03:41.716
[SPEAKER_01]: Mm.
03:41.736 --> 03:48.724
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you think that they'll replicate also the blurry photos, the shit photos that we took or will they improve upon that?
03:48.704 --> 03:49.465
[SPEAKER_00]: they'll be loyal.
03:49.666 --> 03:54.213
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think they'll be it'll be like they'll keep like that urban outfitter.
03:54.834 --> 04:03.588
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh Mommy burger You're literally talking about like like 20 square feet of Hollywood, right here.
04:03.628 --> 04:06.232
[SPEAKER_01]: You go you go Mommy you go urban out for you.
04:06.252 --> 04:07.274
[SPEAKER_01]: You're improv show.
04:07.634 --> 04:12.963
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm being a kitchen 24 For those if you know everyone is relating to this deeply.
04:13.003 --> 04:13.424
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure.
04:13.484 --> 04:14.205
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah
04:14.185 --> 04:32.582
[SPEAKER_00]: the arc lights right there yeah yeah it was a very special time where you could why I you can walk in go I was going to go to a meba look at records it's cool and it's a personality then I would go you know what I mean then I go over to go to Urban Outfitters naturally a new flammable shirt
04:32.562 --> 04:33.223
[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.
04:33.263 --> 04:51.853
[SPEAKER_00]: What like horrible like hoodie or yeah badly created go I do some some improv and then I would be like let's hit up umami burger kitchen 24 Get a bite get a bite to eat or maybe the beauty bar
04:52.238 --> 04:52.798
[SPEAKER_01]: That's right.
04:52.939 --> 04:53.679
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, hello.
04:53.859 --> 04:58.023
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so the beauty bar get a couple, you know, see drink spec then we're only $20.
04:58.123 --> 04:59.684
[SPEAKER_00]: All of that I described.
05:00.025 --> 05:22.043
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you really want to see that like a future version of that night or do we keep it where it is now I kind of do you missed one thing see my night was very similar to yours in that I would go to mommy for sure.
05:22.023 --> 05:26.517
[SPEAKER_01]: then I go get maybe four drinks or so that I couldn't afford and then my car would be towed.
05:26.678 --> 05:32.556
[SPEAKER_01]: So at the end, like if my car wasn't promptly towed at the end of an evening like that, it was a night poorly spent.
00:00.031 --> 00:05.248
[SPEAKER_00]: Beyond the grave, I'm Jason Horton, I'm Rebecca Leib, and this is Ghost Town.
00:20.045 --> 00:36.781
[SPEAKER_01]: It's Friday, and I have something that I feel very compelled to share and talk about because AI, everybody's talking about it, everyone's talking about the rise of AI, what it means, what certain things are approved by AI, what human things are taken away by it.
00:37.802 --> 00:49.073
[SPEAKER_01]: So I just learned that meta has patented an AI that can keep a deceased person's account active and running on social media, like posting, messaging, even video calling by replicating their behavior
00:49.053 --> 00:59.348
[SPEAKER_01]: The company was granted a patent in late December that outlines how this large language model can, quote, simulate a person's social media activity, such as responding to content.
00:59.388 --> 01:02.232
[SPEAKER_01]: Again, being a human without being a human.
01:03.133 --> 01:06.037
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, this chilled me to my core.
01:06.478 --> 01:10.584
[SPEAKER_01]: I can't, at first I was like, I can't imagine this is like insane.
01:10.945 --> 01:12.006
[SPEAKER_01]: What are your thoughts about this?
01:12.998 --> 01:16.863
[SPEAKER_00]: I barely want to see social media from people that are a lot.
01:19.447 --> 01:24.875
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I'm annoying on this plane.
01:24.895 --> 01:27.779
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't imagine how annoying I would be.
01:27.959 --> 01:30.182
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't want to be poking people from beyond.
01:30.202 --> 01:30.923
[SPEAKER_01]: No.
01:30.903 --> 01:58.952
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, no, there's something in my show and this is also going to compare to like when you like like tax Dermy like an all like when you get a head stuffed it's like not this like It's it's it's it's really better to move on and I'm all like I mean we love nostalgia We love looking at pictures and videos and I'm I'm all that but I don't need I don't need like Miss like a new nostalgia yeah from things that are gone
01:59.742 --> 02:01.385
[SPEAKER_01]: No, I agree.
02:01.505 --> 02:07.555
[SPEAKER_01]: I think we are, but I think as humans were desperate to cling, we like familiarity in any form.
02:07.676 --> 02:19.636
[SPEAKER_01]: Even if it's uncanny valley, crazy macabre familiarity, which is why like, yeah, like a taxidermy thing, or even like, you know, in people like their pet dies and they get one like the day later, where it's like holy shit.
02:19.656 --> 02:21.940
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, now you just have a new being living with you.
02:22.000 --> 02:23.843
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's very like holy shit.
02:23.823 --> 02:34.744
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, so yeah, I was like, like, grossed out by this, but then part of me is like, kind of what happens when like the accounts that like I really like to talk shit about are gone, you know, like then what do I do?
02:35.467 --> 02:40.174
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, if two options, one, you can not talk shit.
02:40.635 --> 02:42.537
[SPEAKER_00]: You can learn to stop, you just want it there.
02:43.018 --> 02:49.507
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, if you learn to celebrate or the ideas, they'll always be new ones for you.
02:49.788 --> 02:54.775
[SPEAKER_01]: They'll be new, yeah, they'll be like teenagers who will mature into and sufferable adults that I can,
02:54.755 --> 02:56.758
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's the gift that keeps on giving.
02:56.778 --> 02:58.380
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, that's people that run out.
02:58.400 --> 02:58.640
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
02:58.900 --> 02:59.501
[SPEAKER_01]: That's a beautiful thing.
02:59.561 --> 03:00.362
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, mine would be.
03:00.863 --> 03:06.070
[SPEAKER_01]: I post so rarely that mine would be like, every once in a while, like a show that came out that I worked on.
03:06.350 --> 03:09.955
[SPEAKER_01]: So they'll be like, 20, 90.
03:10.235 --> 03:13.800
[SPEAKER_01]: But hey, look, uh, dead into coders.
03:13.820 --> 03:16.524
[SPEAKER_01]: There's just like, like, what is my legacy this?
03:16.964 --> 03:19.848
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, maybe like a bowl of ramen that you post new then, like, 2012.
03:20.008 --> 03:21.370
[SPEAKER_00]: Excellent.
03:21.552 --> 03:24.115
[SPEAKER_00]: I've gotten a lot of mileage out of that ramen, you know.
03:24.155 --> 03:30.222
[SPEAKER_00]: And mine is like some kind of like a picture from like an improv show that was really boring.
03:30.302 --> 03:34.007
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, a bunch of guys and plaid shirts holding up another guy.
03:34.027 --> 03:34.387
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
03:34.587 --> 03:36.349
[SPEAKER_01]: Was that guy you being held up?
03:36.530 --> 03:38.492
[SPEAKER_00]: That was me being I was the center.
03:38.512 --> 03:41.355
[SPEAKER_00]: I was I had a lot of main character energy.
03:41.375 --> 03:41.716
[SPEAKER_01]: Mm.
03:41.736 --> 03:48.724
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you think that they'll replicate also the blurry photos, the shit photos that we took or will they improve upon that?
03:48.704 --> 03:49.465
[SPEAKER_00]: they'll be loyal.
03:49.666 --> 03:54.213
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think they'll be it'll be like they'll keep like that urban outfitter.
03:54.834 --> 04:03.588
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh Mommy burger You're literally talking about like like 20 square feet of Hollywood, right here.
04:03.628 --> 04:06.232
[SPEAKER_01]: You go you go Mommy you go urban out for you.
04:06.252 --> 04:07.274
[SPEAKER_01]: You're improv show.
04:07.634 --> 04:12.963
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm being a kitchen 24 For those if you know everyone is relating to this deeply.
04:13.003 --> 04:13.424
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure.
04:13.484 --> 04:14.205
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah
04:14.185 --> 04:32.582
[SPEAKER_00]: the arc lights right there yeah yeah it was a very special time where you could why I you can walk in go I was going to go to a meba look at records it's cool and it's a personality then I would go you know what I mean then I go over to go to Urban Outfitters naturally a new flammable shirt
04:32.562 --> 04:33.223
[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.
04:33.263 --> 04:51.853
[SPEAKER_00]: What like horrible like hoodie or yeah badly created go I do some some improv and then I would be like let's hit up umami burger kitchen 24 Get a bite get a bite to eat or maybe the beauty bar
04:52.238 --> 04:52.798
[SPEAKER_01]: That's right.
04:52.939 --> 04:53.679
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, hello.
04:53.859 --> 04:58.023
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so the beauty bar get a couple, you know, see drink spec then we're only $20.
04:58.123 --> 04:59.684
[SPEAKER_00]: All of that I described.
05:00.025 --> 05:22.043
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you really want to see that like a future version of that night or do we keep it where it is now I kind of do you missed one thing see my night was very similar to yours in that I would go to mommy for sure.
05:22.023 --> 05:26.517
[SPEAKER_01]: then I go get maybe four drinks or so that I couldn't afford and then my car would be towed.
05:26.678 --> 05:32.556
[SPEAKER_01]: So at the end, like if my car wasn't promptly towed at the end of an evening like that, it was a night poorly spent.
