Joshua created an AI simulation of his deceased fiancée to help him deal with his loss. When gaming enthusiast Joshua Barbeau met Jessica, he knew he had found his soulmate. But his happiness didn't last. Jessica died from a rare health condition aged just 23, leaving Joshua struggling to cope with his grief, and his life. Eight years later, in 2020, while playing around with a website that used AI to create bespoke chatbots, Joshua had an audacious idea. He decided to create a chatbot based on his beloved Jessica. It's an experience that he says helped him finally to find closure. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Rebecca Vincent Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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It felt like opening Pandora's box, right?
I couldn't not do it once I had the idea, but that it felt almost taboo, right?
Like it was like, should I be doing this?
Is this breaking any moral or ethical laws by doing this?
Grief can lead the mind to the strangest places.
When we lose someone, we can find ourselves having conversations with the dead in our minds, writing them letters or watching old videos of them over and over again.
The urge to feel close to those we've lost is as old as time.
But what happens when new technology enters the mix?
I'm Mubin Azhar and you're listening to Lives Less Ordinary from the BBC World Service, bringing you amazing personal stories from across the globe and from new frontiers.
In this episode, I'm speaking to Joshua Barbo, Canadian gaming enthusiast in his 30s, who found himself going through an extraordinary online experiment that changed his grief and his life.
So you know the room that you're in and this kind of fantasy world of Kermit the Frog, Spider man, and.
This is just, this is just my office.
If you're into the computer game Dungeons and Dragons, you'll understand what I mean when I say Joshua works as a professional dungeon master.