Topline
A new AI-powered app that allows users to create interactive avatars of their deceased relatives, co-founded by Disney Channel alum Calum Worthy, is sparking backlash on social media, with many users calling the technology dystopian and comparing it to the sci-fi series “Black Mirror.”
Former Disney Channel actor Calum Worthy co-founded the AI app 2wai. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Next Generation Indie Film Awards)
Getty Images for Next Generation Indie Film Awards
Key Facts
Worthy, who starred in the Disney Channel series “Austin & Ally,” posted an ad for the app 2wai on X earlier this week, which has since gone viral, racking up more than 22 million views and thousands of critical responses.
In the ad, an expectant mother communicates with an AI-generated avatar resembling her deceased mother through the 2wai app, depicting interactions the avatar has with the family as the son is born, grows up and eventually has children of his own.
The end of the ad shows how the woman created the AI avatar of her mother, which the app apparently generated after the woman filmed her mother speaking and moving for three minutes.
“With 2wai, three minutes can last forever,” the company declared at the conclusion of the ad, and Worthy said in his post the company is “building a living archive of humanity” and that “loved ones we’ve lost could be part of our future.”
Forbes has reached out to 2wai for comment.
Chief Critics
Worthy’s post containing the ad garnered just 6,000 likes, but plenty of critical responses slamming the technology as inhumane attracted much more favor from X users. One user said the app is “objectively one of the most evil ideas imaginable,” garnering 210,000 likes. Another user similarly said: “a former Disney Channel star creating the most evil thing I’ve ever seen in my life wasn’t really what I was expecting,” gaining 139,000 likes. A user got 12,000 likes calling the app “demonic, dishonest, and dehumanizing,” stating they would never want to have an AI-generated persona on the app because “my value dies with me. I’m not a f—ing avatar.” Other users suggested the app—which is free to download but offers premium avatars and digital items for purchase—profits off of grief and could be an unhealthy way for people to deal with loss.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/11/14/disney-channel-stars-ai-app-that-creates-avatars-of-dead-relatives-sparks-backlash/
