NEVER SAY GOODBYE; The New York Times, June 13, 2025

Susan Dominus ; Videos by Singeli Agnew, The New York Times; NEVER SAY GOODBYE
"StoryFile frequently works with foundations and museums, but it has already made interactive videos for several individual clients. In the future, the company intends to release a generative-A.I. app in which customers can create avatars that answer questions not provided in advance, by uploading a person’s emails, social media posts and other background material.
Matt and Joan preferred what they signed up for, which would be an avatar of Peter who answered only the questions that were posed while he was alive. Everything he said, they would know, was something he believed to be true, rather than an extrapolation. “It won’t change the reality that I’ve lost my father,” Matt said. “But it lessens the blow ever so slightly, knowing that when he does die, it won’t be the last time I’ll ever have a conversation with him.”...
Matt felt a tension between being moved by how real the experience felt yet also being reminded that it was a rendering. ...“It was a reminder that this is a human I love that I want to console. But you can’t console a video clip.”