Phillip, 27, from the UK, pulled at the heart strings of people across the world after giving his mother, Trish, a special New Year present — he surprised his mom with a voice recording of his late father, which he made with the help of AI.
The young man’s dad, John, passed away from cancer in 2022 — leaving his wife and children mourning. After seeing his mom struggling to get through the holidays, he turned to AI to give her a gift she would never forget.
In a video, which has so far had more than 6.2 million views, the 27-year-old showed viewers his mom’s reaction to hearing her late husband’s voice.
“My dad passed away from cancer 1.5 years ago so I decided to do something special for my mom this New Year,” he said as his mother unwrapped the present. “It’s been so long since we heard his voice, so I made her a video using AI software to match his exact voice. And the result was amazing.”
In addition to his father’s voice, Phillip made a video that featured photos of his dad. When Trish opened the photo book, tears immediately formed.
“Hi, honey. I love you. I want you to know you are the best mother to our kids and the strongest woman in the whole world,” the AI voice said. “I’m always with you. I hope you guys have a happy New Year.”
Phillip revealed that his wife, Kassandra, first gave him the idea to use AI to recreate his dad’s voice. Although he was skeptical at first, once he got to work using the text-to-speech software, he was shocked at the outcome. “When the program said it in his voice... I got chills(寒战) all over my body. That’s why I decided to do this no matter what,” Phillip said.
【小题1】What does the underlined phrase “pulled at the heart strings” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Encouraged creativity. | B．Touched the hearts. |
| C．Promoted good deeds. | D．Provided comfort. |
| A．Adaptable. | B．Demanding. |
| C．Heart-warming. | D．Hard-working. |
| A．She was terribly frightened. | B．She took it for granted. |
| C．She viewed it as a dream. | D．She was wild with joy. |
| A．Phillip’s interest in making the recording. |
| B．Phillip’s doubt over making the recording. |
| C．Phillip’s struggle for making the recording. |
| D．Phillip’s inspiration to make the recording. |
