A Hong Kong teenager with a rare muscle-wasting disease has created an AI version of himself, hoping the digital twin can continue sharing his life story and message of perseverance even after he is gone.
Chen Tsz-kin, 17, unveiled \"AI Tsz-kin\" at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) on Sunday, weeks before his 18th birthday - an age the student said he had long feared reaching because he was once told it was the average life expectancy for people with his disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
\"Life may come to an end, but through different means, AI can allow [my message] to continue,\" he said. \"Even if one day I am no longer here, I just hope people remember the spirit behind it.\"
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Tsz-kin was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy when he was just 1 1/2 years old.
The progressive rare and deadly condition causes muscles to weaken over time, and he now uses a wheelchair, wears a back brace and relies on a breathing machine at night.
Even so, he has spent much of his childhood pursuing experiences that might have seemed impossible, including travelling to the Kyrgyz highlands, completing a 100km desert expedition with support from volunteers, paragliding and diving.
Tsz-kin's health has worsened over the past year. He suffered pneumonia twice - after contracting influenza in January and respiratory syncytial virus in August - with the second bout leaving him frightened about whether he would survive.
\"For the first time since I was little, I broke down crying in front of my mum,\" he said.
The experience made him think more deeply about how his beliefs and experiences could live on, even as his physical strength declined.
The artificial intelligence (AI) project began about 18 months ago with Hong Kong-listed visual effects and virtual human company Digital Domain.
About 400 images of his face were captured to recreate his appearance, while recordings made over roughly six weeks were used to reproduce his voice and pronunciation. His life experiences and views were also fed into the system.
At Sunday's event, the avatar answered the audience's questions about his travels, favourite foods, outlook on death and relationship with his mother.
When asked what he would say to her, the AI Tsz-kin replied: \"Thank you for always taking such good care of me and supporting me. I know it has been very hard for you, but your love is my greatest motivation.\"
William Wong, chairman of the board at Digital Domain Holdings, said the company wanted the avatar to feel more personal and conversational than virtual humans it developed for commercial clients.
\"We are not trying to replace Tsz-kin,\" Wong said. \"We hope technology can help him share his experiences with more people, while reducing some of the physical burden on him.\"
Tsz-kin, who hopes to study social work, stressed that the avatar could never replicate the emotional impact of a living person.
But he said that was not the point.
\"If, when people face difficulties in the future, they remember something I once shared and remember not to give up, that is already enough for me,\" he said. \"Then I would have no regrets.\"
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
Copyright (c) 2026. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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