What would it do to your grief if you could hear a parent's voice again—not through an old recording, but in a genuine conversation?
In this episode, we sit down with Miles Spencer, CEO and founder of Reflekta, a platform using AI to create private, interactive digital legacies that allow families to reconnect with the stories, humour, wisdom, and personality of loved ones long after they're gone.
For Miles, this mission is deeply personal. The inspiration came from his father, Art Spencer, a larger-than-life storyteller whose final message was simple but powerful: the spirit endures even when the body does not.
We explore how REFLEKTA's "elders" are created, beginning with something as simple as a photograph, a short voice sample, or even an old voicemail, along with a biography, obituary, or family memories. Through guided interviews and storytelling sessions, these fragments are transformed into a living timeline that future generations can interact with.
But what happens when technology enters such an emotional space?
We dive into the questions many people immediately ask: How is privacy protected? Who decides what stories are included? What happens when family members remember the same event differently? Miles explains the role of the "keeper," who curates the legacy; how families move beyond the initial uncanny feeling; and why the goal isn't to create a perfect replica of someone—it is to preserve connection, meaning, and memory.
The conversation also ventures into the emerging world of "Soul Tech," spiritual readiness, and why memorial AI can feel comforting to some people and unsettling to others. We discuss the ethical guardrails, what these AI legacies can and cannot truly know, and the surprising mental health benefits that may come from helping seniors, veterans, and families preserve their life stories while they're still here to tell them
Miles offers a glimpse into Reflekta's next chapter: iConversations, an ambitious project that creates interactive experiences with public figures, thought leaders, and experts using their writings, interviews, and public records.
If you've ever wished you could ask one more question, hear one more story, or spend just a little more time with someone you've lost, this conversation will stay with you long after it ends.
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Ordinary people, extraordinary experiences - Real voices, real moments - Human connection through stories - Live true storytelling podcast - Confessions - First person emotional narratives - Unscripted Life Stories.
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