Suzanne Somers is back — in digital form. Two years after the actress’s death, her husband Alan Hamel has unveiled an AI-powered “Suzanne Twin” trained to look, sound, and even think like her.
In an interview with People, Hamel revealed that the lifelike creation fulfills a plan the couple discussed decades ago. He says the resemblance is uncanny: “You can’t tell the difference.”
An AI future planned decades ago
Long before AI became a buzzword, Somers was already picturing its possibilities. In the 1980s, the actress and entrepreneur learned about AI from futurist Ray Kurzweil, a friend she and her husband often turned to for insight.
“We knew it was coming,” Hamel told People, recalling conversations that stretched back more than thirty years.
For Somers, it was about purpose. She believed the technology could extend her mission of helping others live healthier lives. “I think it’ll be very interesting and will provide a service to my fans,” she told Hamel at the time. That seed of an idea would outlive her, evolving into the digital version he’s now bringing to life, keeping her voice, and her advice, alive for generations.
From mourning to machine learning
To bring Somers’ vision to life, Hamel turned to the words she left behind. The project’s backbone isn’t fantasy but data: 27 books and hundreds of interviews that capture how she spoke, thought, and taught. Every page, every quip, every wellness tip was fed into the system until her voice, literal and philosophical, began to take shape.
Hamel says the AI can answer health questions by pulling directly from the doctors Somers once interviewed, their statements verified by Life Extension’s medical team. Her fans will hear the expertise she trusted.
For Hamel, this wasn’t a stunt, “I feel really good about being able to deliver what Suzanne wanted,” he told People. Even his family, once uncertain, now sees it as a living archive carrying Suzanne’s voice into the future.
‘Suzanne AI is the future’
Hamel says he’s doing everything he can to keep Somers’ memory alive. He even proposed that Suzanne AI appear at the Kennedy Center Honors, telling the committee, “Suzanne AI is the future, and the future is now.” They declined, explaining that only living honorees qualify, but Hamel stayed focused on what comes next.
Soon, fans will be able to visit SuzanneSomers.com and talk with her digital likeness at any hour. Hamel calls it a continuation of her life’s work, a way for Somers to keep doing what she loved: talking with people, offering guidance, and staying present for those who still miss her most.
The line between tribute and trespass
Not every attempt to bring back the dead has been welcomed. For instance, the digital resurrections of Robin Williams and Tupac Shakur have stirred anger online, with critics calling them exploitative and disrespectful.
Even OpenAI has faced backlash after users created fake videos of Martin Luther King Jr. speaking in ways that distorted his legacy. The AI company responded by halting Sora generations of Dr. King’s likeness and tightening its guardrails for historical figures.
Hamel’s project stands apart for one crucial reason: consent. Somers imagined her own digital double and asked that it be created. Her “AI twin” wasn’t conjured by strangers chasing clicks but built from her wishes, her words, and her life’s work, a tribute she designed herself.
On another front, Google stepped back from one of its AI models after complaints it had misrepresented a US senator.