SEOUL — Lee Geon Hui hired the Seoul-based tech company Vaice in December to create a short video clip featuring a digital likeness of his late grandfather. The AI-generated video included a virtual character referring to Lee's father as "my most precious son" and issued an apology for requiring help with farm work during his childhood and for opposing his decision to become a hairstylist.

Lee's grandfather died in a car accident before his birth. Lee, an office worker, said that he wrote the script for the video, stating, "I wrote the script as it was what I actually wanted to tell my father." He added, "My father said he wouldn't watch the video. But then he did, and he shed tears. So I felt rewarded."

Vaice CEO Jeongu Won stated that the company serves approximately 300 customers each month. The primary customers for the service are individuals in their 40s or 50s who are seeking videos of their deceased parents. A basic three-to-five-minute AI video from Vaice costs 600,000 won, which is approximately $390.

To create a digital likeness, Vaice requires a few photos and short voice samples of the deceased. Customers typically write the scripts for these AI videos themselves. Many customers often play these AI videos during family memorial rituals or major Korean holidays.

Choung Wan, an emeritus professor at Seoul's Kyung Hee University Law School, said, "Psychologically, a healthy mourning involves a process to acknowledge the absence of the deceased and pass through the pains of their losses." He also said, "But speaking with an AI system simulating a living person could undermine the process of accepting deaths and rather cause a negative effect of leaving bereaved families trapped in a fantasy."

Won stated that the company has not received reports from customers indicating that the product made their grief more difficult to bear. He also stated that he is cautious about launching an AI chatbot service due to potential unsupervised ethical issues that could arise in real-time conversations.