Recently, women used AI technology to let their late mother-in-law "attend" the wedding, which attracted attention online. "Son, Mom is so happy to see you get married..." When the image of AI's restored mother appeared on the screen to send his blessing, the groom couldn't help crying.
On June 15, the bride Zhang Qing told the Beijing Youth Daily reporter that after her mother-in-law died of illness last year, her lover was unable to get out of her grief, and her mother-in-law's inability to attend their wedding was also a pity for her lover. To this end, she turned to the AI technical team without telling her lover, used her mother-in-law's photos, videos, and audio to restore her image, and played the video at the wedding.
AI's restored mother-in-law image appears on the screen of the wedding scene
One year after her father-in-law died, her mother-in-law died due to illness, and her fiance was unable to get out of grief
Zhang Qing told the Beiqing Daily that she and her lover Zhang Jianshan had planned to hold a wedding in 2023, but her mother-in-law died in May 2023 due to lung cancer, so she could not attend their wedding. Because of this, their wedding was postponed to this year.
Thirteen months before Zhang Jianshan's mother died, his father died in an accident at work. Since then, mother and son have been living together. However, fate was deceiving. Before long, Zhang Jianshan's mother found lung cancer again. She often said, "I see you will complete your task when you get married." She didn't promise that her condition worsened quickly. It was less than six months since she found the cancer and died.
After his mother died, Zhang Jianshan hid his deep sorrow in his heart. In Zhang Qing's impression, Zhang Jianshan is a very strong person and usually does not easily show his soft side. "In the dead of night, he thought that I would always cry quietly when I fell asleep. He would take out the pictures of my mother-in-law from the drawer, or look through the mobile phones my mother-in-law used, and he felt sad alone. He was immersed in that sad mood, and could not walk out."
In addition to his deep yearning, his mother's failure to attend his wedding also became a regret in Zhang Jianshan's heart. Zhang Qing said, "My mother-in-law left quite suddenly without any warning."
Women turn to AI technical team to make up for their regrets. They hope to restore the video of their mother-in-law to be played at the wedding
Seeing her lover's sadness and regret, Zhang Qing decided to do something. In July 2023, Zhang Qing submitted her own story to the team specializing in AI image restoration, hoping to let her mother-in-law participate in their wedding in the form of AI images, which can also be regarded as fulfilling her lover's wish. It is controversial to resurrect the dead with AI technology. The team has always been cautious, but was finally moved by the story of Zhang Qing's family and agreed to help.
Mr. Xu, one of the founders of the team, told the Beiqing Daily that this time, they only let Zhang Qing reimburse the travel expenses for helping Zhang Qing, and there was no charge for the production of AI restoration images. "It is very ceremonial to use such a technology to make up for the regret on such an important occasion (wedding)."
In this way, Zhang Qing and Mr. Xu's team plan to use AI technology to restore their mother-in-law's digital image and use it in the wedding without telling Zhang Jianshan. Zhang Qing passed the photos, audio and video materials of her mother-in-law to Mr. Xu's team, who was responsible for AI restoration. When seeing the video finally delivered, Zhang Qing felt that the appearance and mouth shape of her mother-in-law had basically restored more than 95%. "The only difference is the tone of her voice. My mother-in-law fell ill later, and the voice materials I could find were limited. Mr. Xu's team also repeatedly adjusted many times, and finally gave me the video that was closest to her original voice."
The groom Zhang Jianshan tears when he sees it
At the wedding, the groom saw AI's recovered mother send blessings and tears, as if the mother "saw" her marriage
On June 9, 2024, Zhang Qing and Zhang Jianshan finally welcomed their wedding in Langfang, Hebei Province. At the wedding, Zhang Qing arranged the staff to play the video of AI's restored mother-in-law. "Son, my mother is so happy to see you getting married! You are fat, Zhang Qing is so beautiful today, and my mother wishes you a happy new marriage! Jianshan, your good mother can rest assured, don't always think about me..." Hearing the blessing from "mother", Zhang Jianshan was in a trance for a moment, and he never expected his mother would "participate" in his wedding in this way, and cried excitedly at the scene. Seeing this, Zhang Qing used her handkerchief to wipe away tears for her lover. Among the relatives and friends attending the wedding ceremony, some of them also burst into tears when they saw this scene.
Zhang Qing wipes Zhang Jianshan's tears
Zhang Qing said that on the wedding night, her lover repeatedly watched the video, feeling as if her mother "saw" her marriage. Zhang Qingcai was relieved when he saw the success of his "secret operation". Zhang Qing said that before deciding to do this, she also hesitated and thought about whether to show this video to her lover in private. "But through my understanding of him, I think he would prefer to play it at the wedding, just like his mother came."
After the event, Zhang Qing also saw the different voices of netizens. Some people gave her blessings and supported her to do so. She felt that the bride must love the groom very much, but some people did not approve of her doing so. "I also saw the objections. Everyone thought that the wedding should be happy, and the other thing was whether it would cause secondary harm to my wife. I understood these ideas very well, and I also actively communicated with my wife. After talking, he still agreed with my approach." Zhang Qing told reporters, "One netizen's words made my wife feel very much, that is, 'My dear ones have left, I want to see you again no matter what'."
Zhang Qing believes that the quality of AI technology is actually determined by people. It depends on how to use this technology. "For example, human beings invented the fruit knife, and we use it to cut fruit, but some people want to use it to do bad things."
Intern Lin Zixuan
Article/Dai Youqing, reporter of Beijing Youth Daily
(Source: Beijing Youth Daily)
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