Soul Machines debuted a synthetic Marilyn Monroe last week at SXSW. The New Zealand-based company teamed on the Digital Marilyn project with Authentic Brands Group, a New York management firm that represents a host of fashion labels as well as personalities such as Elvis Presley, David Beckham and Muhammad Ali. The result is a sophisticated chatbot that Soul Machines describes as an “interactive experience.” Drawing on biological AI, Soul Machines is packaging a “personalized engagement opportunity” for fans and brands, which could lead to new approaches in advertising and promotions.

“Digital Marilyn is able to read users’ emotions and respond accordingly via Soul Machine’s proprietary camera and microphone technology,” reports Variety, adding that “every interaction is unique. Digital Marilyn analyzes your preferences and tailors her responses accordingly.”

At present, Soul Machines’ digital avatars can converse for an average of about 20 minutes, the company says. Digital Marilyn (currently appearing on Instagram) has yet to launch publicly, but the company has posted a sign-up sheet for those who may be interested.

In a press release from the SXSW launch event, Soul Machines says biological AI “mimics the human nervous system, enabling realistic emotional responses and dynamic conversations,” leveraging human cues to “respond accordingly.”

Reanimated celebrities are nothing new. In 1997 Fred Astaire danced while using a Dirt Devil vacuum, Tupac Shakur performed holographically with Dr. Dre at the 2012 Coachella festival, and Audrey Hepburn hawked chocolate bars in 2014. However, those were created using special effects.

According to Variety, other generative-AI projects featuring celebrities who have passed include “an animated biopic of French singer Edith Piaf that will use AI to create a facsimile of her voice and image and the Calm app’s AI-generated voice of Jimmy Stewart reading a bedtime story.”