An app launched by a former Disney star that lets users speak with AI versions of their dead relatives drew jeers online, with social media users calling the tech “vile,” “demonic” and reminiscent of the dystopian sci-fi show “Black Mirror.”
Calum Worthy, a Canadian actor known for Disney’s 2011-2016 “Austin & Ally,” posted an ad for his app 2wai last week on X. The clip quickly racked up more than 40 million views — and dozens of comments calling for the app to be taken down.
“This is one of the most vile things I’ve seen in my life,” one user wrote on X.
In the video, a pregnant woman uses 2wai to talk to an avatar of her dead mother. Years later, the baby she was pregnant with – now a 10-year-old boy – talks to the bot on his walk home from school.
Eventually the youth – now 30 and played by Worthy – tells the avatar that she is going to be a great-grandmother.
“With 2wai, three minutes can last forever,” the commercial says, claiming that just three minutes of footage can be used to create lifelike AI avatars of friends and family members.
The app is free to download on the Apple store, and coming soon to Android. It also offers premium features for a fee.
Critics blasted the app as dangerous and exploitative, arguing it could do serious mental harm to grieving people.
“‘Are you sure you want to cancel your subscription and never talk to your dead parents again?’” one social media user wrote in a post. “You are a psychopath. Get help. Stop building products before you really hurt someone.”
“Death and Loss is a normal part of life. You’re creating dependent and lobotomized adults by doing this,” another user wrote. “Actually vile.”
Some users shared concerns that the app’s avatars – “capable of real-time conversation” with “realistic movements and lip-synchronized speech” – could push users into psychosis or lead them to commit suicide.
Yet another blasted the company: “Demonic, dishonest, and dehumanizing. If I die and you put words in my mouth I will curse you for all eternity. My value dies with me. I’m not a f–king avatar.”
A different person posted a “Family Guy” meme showing the character Peter Griffin lounging in a chair and using a TV remote with the caption: “ah sweet man-made horrors beyond my comprehension.”
Some critics said the app seemed like it came straight out of popular Netflix series “Black Mirror.”
“This was LITERALLY a ‘Black Mirror’ episode, like, I hate when people say that but it is quite specifically season 2 episode 1,” one user wrote.
In that episode, titled “Be Right Back,” a young woman uses AI software to help make a real-life recreation of her boyfriend, who died in a car accident.
Worthy and co-founder Russell Geyser, a Hollywood producer, have marketed their AI startup as a safe way for celebrities to create AI chatbots that can talk to fans – with guardrails in place to prevent inappropriate conversations.
“We saw an urgent need for creators and individuals to have agency over their own likeness – with their own avatars to use AI to amplify their voice, not replace it,” Worthy told Variety in June.
The actor, also known for starring in Hulu’s “The Act,” said the pair have raised $5 million from friends and family in “pre-seed” funding.
Along with creating avatars of family members and friends, 2wai offers users the ability to create a “digital twin” – “a HoloAvatar who looks and talks like you, and even shares the same memories!”
Worthy has an AI avatar of himself on the 2wai app, which he said he treats “as a living diary” – telling it behind-the-scenes stories from his Disney days to share with fans.
The app also comes loaded with pre-generated avatars, like a William Shakespeare bot or original characters like Celest the astrologist and Darius the personal trainer.
Worthy said the startup is “building a living archive of humanity, one story at a time.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
