Conversations with My Deepfake Dad

My father died when he was forty-four and I was seventeen. He was a screenwriter who used a tape recorder to take notes about his work and life. A year ago I turned forty-four and wanted to talk to him again. I reached out to Resemble AI, a company that creates clones of voices using machine learning, to discuss the possibility of creating a deepfake of my father’s voice. Over the next several months, I found six hours of his recordings and worked with Resemble AI and my mother to think through the ethical and technological challenges of recreating my father’s voice. When the model of his voice was completed I was able to type and speak words into the interface and hear him speak.