Want to talk to Dr. Jose Rizal? Here’s how

DECEMBER 30 marks the day of commemoration remembering the heroic act of none other than Jose Rizal. 

While it’s been 128 years since the national hero died did you know that you can still have a conversation with the national hero through the form of Artificial Intelligence? 

“Conversations with Rizal” is an AI agent that is developed by veteran Filipino voiceover artist Pocholo Gonzales. 

This AI version of Rizal can interact with users in languages such as Tagalog, English, German, and many more. 

Featuring the life and works of Jose Rizal, the AI can answer the questions you have related to the hero.  According to Gonzales, he didn’t compromise the accuracy of Rizal’s life as he poured his time reading the published books by and about the National Hero for the AI initiative. 

These and the diaries of Rizal also serve as the foundation for the project’s content. 

With the help of CreatiVoice Labs on the codes and programming, the company he develops blends “advanced AI with voice artistry, offering ethical, lifelike voices and top audio solutions for media and beyond.” 

For the voice of Rizal, Gonzales learned the languages and the accent of Tagalog and Laguna and recorded himself–speaking in a way that he thought Rizal would sound like. 

He recorded the voice in 2014 when he was just 35 years old, the same age when Jose Rizal died. 

For Gonzales, Rizal has always been his personal hero since childhood and through his project, “Conversations with Rizal,” he saw it as a way of honoring him. 

“Conversations with Rizal,” took 20 years in the making—pouring out his passion by studying the AI from the early days of the internet and money to make the project possible. 

The project launched exactly on Rizal Day and will initially be available for three months. 

To access “Conversation with Rizal,” you can access it through: https://www.askrizal.org/