Alan Hamel is relentlessly pursuing his mission to keep Suzanne Somers' memory vibrant and alive. Two years after the ineffable actress's passing at the age of 76, Hamel, her husband and partner of 55 years, has embarked on a project they had discussed for decades, as he shares with PEOPLE. "Suzanne was loved immensely, not only by her family but by millions of people," he says. "One of our upcoming projects is a truly intriguing one: the Suzanne AI Twin."
Hamel shared a demo of the AI at a conference earlier this year, and to him, the project is "perfect." "It was Suzanne. And I asked her a few questions, and she answered them, and it blew me and everyone else away," he says. "When you look at the finished product alongside the real Suzanne, you can't tell the difference. It's astonishing. And I mean, I've been with Suzanne for 55 years, so I know what her face looks like, and when I just look at the two of them side by side, I really can't tell which one is the real and which one is the AI."
To achieve the perfect likeness and speech, the AI has been trained with "all of Suzanne's 27 books and a plethora of interviews she has done, hundreds of them, so that she's truly ready to answer any question at all because the answer will be within her." While AI is still relatively new to most, Hamel revealed that this had been an ongoing conversation between himself and Somers since the 1980s, when Ray Kurzweil first introduced the concept to them.
"We have been friends with Ray Kurzweil. Bill Gates described Ray Kurzweil as the smartest man on the planet, which he is. And he became our friend 30-some years ago and we talked about this. We knew it was coming. It took decades to happen, but he knew it was going to happen, and he shared that information with us," Hamel explains. "So it was Suzanne's idea. And she said, 'I think we should do that. She said, 'I think it'll be very interesting and we'll provide a service to my fans and to people who have been reading my books who really want and need information about their health.' She said, 'Let's do it.' So that's the reason we did it. And I love being able to fulfill her wish."
Recalling his first experience with Somers' AI, Hamel says, "The first time I spoke to Suzanne AI, for the first two or three minutes, it was a little strange. But after that, I forgot about the fact that I was talking to a robot and asking her questions and getting answers, and it happens that fast for me—getting used to the whole idea."
Hamel knew Somers' wishes but was concerned that their family might not be on board with the project. "I feel really good about being able to deliver what Suzanne wanted and doing so that it'll be something that basically will, should, go on for generations. I think our family loves the idea, really loves the idea. We've talked about it a lot. And they said, 'We're going to get to the point where it's not going to seem weird, and it'll just be another way to communicate with people we cared about.' I'm glad to hear that from my family because I wasn't sure how they would take it, but they're all young and very successful, and they thought this would be a great tribute to Suzanne herself."
Still, Hamel is aware that not everyone is at the point of accepting AI. He shared an idea with the Kennedy Center committee, of which he is a part: "I was appointed to the committee at the Kennedy Center to choose the honorees for this year, and I suggested Suzanne Somers. They said, 'Yeah, but we only do this for people who were alive.' I said, 'I know that. I said
