Just over two years after Suzanne Somers’ death, the late actor and fitness icon Alan Hamel has revealed that he created an AI clone of Summers to help him interact with fans online. In an exclusive interview with People magazine, Hamel officially announced that the Suzanne AI Twin is in development, calling it a “really interesting” project. Summers and Hamel were married for 55 years. She passed away from breast cancer in October 2023.
“It was Suzanne, and I asked her some questions, and she answered them, and it surprised me and everyone else,” Hamel, 89, told the publication about his late wife’s AI clone. “When you look at the finished product side-by-side with the real Suzanne, you can’t tell the difference. It’s amazing. I mean, I’ve been with Suzanne for 55 years, so I know what her face looks like. Just looking at the two side-by-side, you really can’t tell which is real and which is AI.”
To create the AI version of Summers, Hamel and the development team “trained an AI system using all of Suzanne’s 27 books, the many interviews she’s done, and hundreds of interviews. So that she’s ready to answer any question she’s asked, because the answer is inside her.”
Hamel said the idea of creating a virtual Summers had been in development for a long time, and was something Summers himself was interested in creating during his lifetime.
“This was Suzanne’s idea, and she said, ‘I think we should do that,'” Hamel said. “I think it’s going to be really interesting, and it’s going to serve my fans and people who read my books and really want health information.” “That’s why we did it. So we’re very happy to be able to fulfill her wish.”
Once the version of AI Suzanne is complete, the plan is to upload “her” to SuzanneSomers.com and become a 24/7 AI chatbot for fans of the late Somers. As her widow summarized, “Someone would ask her about a health problem, and Suzanne would be able to answer it. It wouldn’t be Suzanne’s version of an answer, but that answer would come from the doctor because it would go directly to the doctor she interviewed about that very problem.”
“When I first talked to Suzanne AI, it was a little weird for the first couple of minutes, but after that I forgot about the fact that I was talking to a robot and asking her questions and getting answers. It happened quickly for me and I got used to the whole idea,” Hamel added to People.
Summers, who rose to television stardom on the hit sitcoms “Three’s Company” and “Step by Step,” and made a personal fortune as a health and fitness vendor and author, died on October 15, 2023, at the age of 76.
