Calum Worthy’s AI Lets You Chat With the Dead — Fans Say It Crosses a Line

Disney alum Calum Worthy just launched an AI startup and immediately found out what the internet thinks about chatting with digital ghosts. Short version: not a hit.

So, what did he launch?

• Worthy, aka Dez from Disney Channel's 'Austin & Ally', co-founded an AI app called 2wai.
• The headline feature is something they call a HoloAvatar: an AI-driven, speaking digital recreation of a person — including people who have died.
• The pitch on social: a 'social network for avatars' and a 'living archive of humanity'.
• The beta went live on the App Store on November 11, 2025; Android is 'coming soon'. You can make your own HoloAvatar now.
• Pricing is not fully rolled out yet, but the plan is a paid, tiered subscription model.

The ad that lit the fuse

Worthy introduced 2wai on X with a soft-focus video titled: 'What if the loved ones we have lost could be part of our future?'

In the spot, a pregnant woman talks to an AI avatar of her late mother about the pregnancy, then later introduces her newborn to the avatar. It is very 'tug the heartstrings' — until you remember the mom is a simulated likeness. A lot of viewers did not go 'aww'; they went 'absolutely not'.

The backlash, fast and loud

Almost immediately, replies and quote-tweets skewered the vibe and the ethics. Big themes:

- Consent and likeness: Who gets to decide a deceased person's face and voice get to live on as a chatbot?
- Creepy factor: Fans called it unsettling, accused it of 'digital grave-robbing', and compared it to the 'Be Right Back' episode of Black Mirror (Season 2).
- Monetization dread: People joked — not really joking — about upsells like 'cancel your plan and never talk to your dead parents again' and future tiers where your grandma's avatar reads you ads.

The pushback built across November 13–14, right after the November 11 beta launch, with memes dunking on Worthy's 'Austin & Ally' past and lines like 'guess who got a job defiling dead people'. It got dark quickly.

Why this hits a nerve right now

Worthy's app is landing in the middle of a broader wave of AI-in-entertainment moves that already has fans and pros on edge.

Just this week, USA Today reported Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine are working with ElevenLabs on AI voice replicas. McConaughey is using the tech for the Spanish-language audio of his newsletter 'Lyrics of Livin'' — he narrates the English version himself — and he has reportedly been an investor in ElevenLabs for a while.

That news triggered a fresh round of hand-wringing: some say the 'floodgates are about to open' and other actors will follow; others asked why big names are embracing AI instead of resisting it. A few took the pragmatic route: better to license and get paid than be cloned without permission. None of this makes the conversation calmer.

Not everyone in Hollywood is onboard

Morgan Freeman recently told Variety he is not here for AI doing a knockoff of his voice:

'I am a little PO'd, you know. I am like any other actor: do not mimic me with falseness. I do not appreciate it and I get paid for doing stuff like that, so if you are gonna do it without me, you are robbing me.'

Guillermo del Toro, speaking to NPR, went even broader on generative tools:

'I am 61, and I hope to be able to remain uninterested in using it at all until I croak.'

He also said he is more worried about the very human stupidity around how AI gets used than the tech itself. Hard to argue with that after a week like this.

Where this leaves 2wai

On paper, 2wai says it is trying to preserve stories and memories. In practice, resurrecting someone without their explicit consent is a minefield — legally, ethically, emotionally. The ad leans Hallmark; the implications lean horror.

Worthy says Android is coming, the beta is live, and this is the start of a 'living archive.' Based on the early reactions, the company is going to need crystal-clear rules about consent, likeness rights, and how these avatars are trained and monetized — or the only thing living here will be the controversy.

Would you ever talk to an AI version of someone you lost? Or is that a hard line for you? I am genuinely curious where people land on this.