Chatting with the Departed: AI Avatars and Their Ethical Edge This morning I was mulling over one of the more head-scratching trends in AI. A new app called 2wai – launched by Disney Channel actor Calum Worthy – lets you create interactive AI avatars of deceased relatives. Yes, you read that right. It’s a bit like a scene straight out of ‘Black Mirror’! According to the source, the app uses just minutes of recorded footage to create “HoloAvatars” that interact with users as if the departed were still by their side. As a designer, I can’t help but wonder about the ethical tightrope here. Are we preserving memories, or are we exploiting grief? Either way, it’s a fascinating (if somewhat eerie) look into how AI is intersecting with our most personal experiences. For those of us deep in the UX world, this is a reminder to carefully consider how human emotions are engaged by new digital products. People-First Data with Mozilla Data Collective Another gem from my recent read was a nod to the Mozilla Data Collective. They’re building a platform that champions real-world data sharing by contributing multilingual and multimodal datasets – all managed directly by users. If you’re a designer who loves to see the power of community-driven tech, this is worth a look. The platform offers fresh datasets for text-to-speech, code-switching, and even youth speech data, which add another layer to how we can think about inclusivity and accessibility in design. Check out their work on Mozilla Data Collective for more details. It’s a brilliant example of how investing in people-first data can influence the foundation of our future digital products – making them smarter and more inclusive. Everyday AI: Practical Use Cases from the Roundtable I also enjoyed hearing some down-to-earth tales from The Rundown Roundtable. It’s always refreshing to see practical AI in action. One story that stood out was about using Claude to organise messy business finance documents into neat, visually appealing dashboards. Now, as someone who’s navigated the chaos of spreadsheets more times than I’d like to admit, this is both a practical and exciting solution. From turning scattered invoices into pie charts to providing natural language tweaks, these AI workflows demonstrate how we can simplify complex tasks. Rather than a daunting challenge, it’s a friendly nudge towards efficiency—something every UX or UI professional can appreciate. The detailed guide is available here. It’s inspiring to see how everyday challenges are being met with smart, accessible AI tools that even non-coders can appreciate. Envisioning the Future: Satya Nadella’s Positive-Sum AI Vision Last but certainly not least, I found Satya Nadella’s recent thoughts on AI quite compelling. In a candid post on LinkedIn, Nadella outlined Microsoft’s “positive-sum” approach to AI—one that prioritises broader societal and economic uplift over mere company valuations. Nadella’s idea revolves around treating AI systems as core infrastructure, shifting from “per user” to “per agent” pricing. This fresh perspective not only challenges us to rethink our business models but also underscores the transformative potential of AI when harnessed responsibly. You can read more about his views here. For me, it’s a reminder that as digital product designers and UX professionals, we have a critical role in shaping technologies that truly elevate human experiences, rather than merely disrupting them.