A man has shared the heartwarming moment he surprised his mother with a voice recording of his late father, which he created using AI.
Phillip Willet, 27, from St. Louis, Missouri, captured the hearts of people around the world after giving his mother, Trish, a special Christmas gift.
The 27-year-old's father, John, died of pancreatic cancer in 2022, leaving his wife and children in mourning.
After watching his mother struggle to get through the holidays this year without the love of her life by her side, he turned to AI to give her a gift she would never forget.
Phillip Willet, 27, from St. Louis, Missouri, has shared the heartwarming moment he surprised his mother with a voice recording of his late father, which he made with the help of AI
Phillip captured the hearts of people around the world after giving his mother Trish a special Christmas present
The 27-year-old's father, John (seen with Trish in 1987), died of pancreatic cancer in 2022, leaving his wife and children in mourning.
Phillip took to TikTok to share the touching moment he gave his mother her gift.
In a viral video, which has been viewed more than 6.2 million times to date, the 27-year-old showed viewers his mother's reaction to hearing her late husband's voice.
“My father passed away a year and a half ago from pancreatic cancer, so I decided to do something special for my mother for Christmas this year,” he said as his mother unwrapped the gift.
'It's been so long since we've heard his voice, so I made a video for her using AI software that matched his voice exactly. And the result was astonishing.'
In addition to his father's voice, Phillip made a video with photos of his father.
When Trish opened the photo album, tears immediately came.
'Hello darling. I love you, I hear your prayers. I want you to know that you are the best mother to our children and the strongest woman in the world,” the AI voice said.
'I'm always with you darling. I hope you have a Merry Christmas.'
In a viral video, which has been viewed more than 6.2 million times to date, the 27-year-old showed viewers his mother's reaction to hearing her late husband's voice.
Speaking to Good Morning America, Phillip revealed that his wife, Cassandra, first gave him the idea of using AI to recreate his father's voice.
Phillip revealed that his father was his 'hero' – adding that his death brought his family closer together and became even closer. That's why he wanted to do something special for his mother
After hearing the sound of the love of her life, Trish burst into tears and stood up to give Phillip a hug.
Speak with Good morning AmericaPhillip revealed that his wife, Cassandra, first gave him the idea of using AI to imitate his father's voice.
And while he was initially skeptical, once he got started with ElevenLabs' text-to-speech software, he was shocked by the outcome.
He told GMA, “When the program said it in his voice…I got chills all over my body. Then I thought: I'll do this anyway.'
Phillip revealed that his father was his 'hero' – adding that his death brought his family closer together and became even closer. That's why he wanted to do something special for his mother.
“I wanted the video to feel like it was a portal, that she could open this book and just be immersed in it and feel the emotion of their relationship,” he told the outlet.
“What the AI was able to do with that video is really summarize their entire lives.”