Grieving Families in Russia Are Paying $30 to Bring Dead Soldiers Back to Life With AI

Generative AI now makes it possible to breathe new life into still photos — and in Russia, grieving families are paying $30 for this technology to create ghostly videos of soldiers killed in Ukraine. The process is known as ‘digital resurrection.’

The Washington Post reports that a growing trend in Russia sees widows handing over wedding photos to AI editors so they can create final farewell videos. They often follow the same format: the solider stands in front of heavenly gates, in the clouds, with a staircase ascending into them. They often are seen hugging their families or saying a farewell, as a Russian ballad plays in the background.

Reports put Russian casualties as high as one million since President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This has left countless devastated parents, wives, and children who often don’t know what happened to their loved ones and rarely get their remains for a funeral.

So they turn to a Telegram bot of an editor who advertises on VKontakte, a Russian social media website, and hand over photos, videos, and audio recordings of the deceased for a simulated farewell. The AI soldier will repeat a written script, but for talking video clips, the family must pay another $30.

The Washington Post spoke to an editor behind the VKontakte page ‘Final Meeting’ who says it grew naturally from a request by a woman who wanted an AI image of her hugging her brother, who died in Ukraine. She now gets 500 requests per day.

However, she also receives a lot of hate mail. Ukrainians have scoffed at the idea of cherub-looking Russian soldiers going to heaven since it is those same soldiers who have wrought death and destruction to Ukraine for the past three years.

Even in Russia, the videos are divisive and have been compared to séances. “I think AI is a powerful tool, and it’s important to use it responsibly and for good,” Anna Korableva, the editor who operates the ‘Final Meeting’ VKontakte page, tells WaPo. “I know there are a lot of opinions. I’ve received a lot of abuse and curses in my private messages… but I think if these videos help someone, it’s worth doing.”

Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian used similar technology to create a video clip of him and his Mom — who died when he was a young boy — embracing.