Fans Of Deceased Singer "Resurrect" Him, Furious Father Calls Them Out

A deceased singer-actor has been “resurrected” by his fans using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Qiao Renliang (also known as Kimi Qiao) first gained attention in 2007 as the runner-up of the survival show My Hero. He died by suicide on September 16, 2016 after a battle with depression.

photoshoot-kimi-3 — Qiao Renliang (also known as Kimi Qiao)

With the recent advancements of AI, fans are now creating more videos of the late singer. The AI-generated videos feature Qiao speaking to his parents and fans, with his voice speaking the words, “[I’ve] not really gone but retired to live a peaceful life.” Lip-syncing technology creates text-to-speech that sounds convincingly like he did.

The singer’s father has come out to publicly condemn any form of AI-videos of his son. He stated that these were not made with his consent and that rather than giving him comfort, it is “rubbing salt on [his] wounds.”

Zhang Yuxia, a lawyer from the Shanghai Sunhold Law Firm, added in an interview with The Paper that making a video or image of a deceased person using AI without their family’s approval is a serious violation of privacy and “the rights of portrait and reputation.”

Kimi Qiao (1987-2016) was a singer and actor who was known for his works in Magic Card (2015), Stay with Me (2016) and Wo Men De Shi Nian (2016).