By Daniel Wu
One morning in early October, about 18 years after his daughter Jennifer was murdered, Drew Crecente received a Google alert flagging what appeared to be a new profile of her online.
The profile had Jennifer’s full name and a yearbook photo of her. A short biography falsely described Jennifer, whose ex-boyfriend killed her in 2006 during her senior year of high school, as a “video game journalist and expert in technology, pop culture and journalism”.
Drew and Jennifer Crecente.Credit: Courtesy of Drew Crecente/ The Washington Post
Jennifer had seemingly been recreated as a “knowledgeable and friendly AI character”, the website said. A large button invited users to chat with her.
“My pulse was racing,” Crecente recalled to The Washington Post. “I was just looking for a big flashing red stop button …