How AI, deepfake tech are resurrecting overdose victims to save lives [Video]

Fentanyl remains one of the most challenging and destructive public health problems facing the U.S. healthcare system. 

Despite a slight dip in drug overdoses last year — the first annual decrease since 2018 — these instances continue to be a nationwide epidemic, with most of them attributable to fentanyl. 

Of the 107,543 overdose deaths last year, an estimated more than 74,000 were caused by synthetic opioids, or fentanyl. 

Some areas around the country have been hit harder than others and Kansas City, Missouri has not escaped cleanly. Over the last five years, the city saw a 1,190% increase in fentanyl deaths. 

In the face of this ongoing dilemma, the City of Kansas City and the United Way of Greater Kansas City partnered with ad agency BarkleyOKRP on an AI-focused effort to address this scourge in an emotionally moving way. 

In the Unfinished Legacies campaign, three overdose fatalities— Jaden Anderson, Victor Avalos Marmolejo and Jordan Coburn — …