VW used AI to reunite singer Elis Regina, who died in 1982, with her Grammy-winning daughter

This is a beautiful example of human + machine collaboration, laced with a bit of controversy. The automotive brand virtually resurrected a beloved singer for an AI-powered duet with her daughter. It clearly resonated with many in the target audience, but has raised ethical questions - specifically around talent consent in the age of AI. The brand did get approval from the family for the project to proceed, but the artist herself clearly was not able to approve the idea. AI continues to advance at breakneck pace, and yet we’re so early in the evolution of the technology - and in wrestling with the profound questions it spawns.

A Volkswagen campaign used artificial intelligence to resurrect Elis Regina, a beloved Brazilian singer who died four decades ago at age 36, and reunite her with her daughter—who was 4 years old when she lost her mother, and who is now a Grammy-winning musical artist herself.

AlmapBBDO created the campaign, which shows Maria Rita driving VW’s electric ID Buzz through a deserted landscape. Soon, another car pulls up next to her—driven by a computer-generated version of her mother, who died of a drug overdose on Jan. 19, 1982. Regis—best known simply as “Elis”—is seen driving the ID Buzz’s predecessor, the VW Kombi, from years ago.

Full story at AdAge.